Reason
by The Alchemist
Summary: Dr Gero didn't work enirely alone. His apprentice is back and working for a revolutionary group with one thing in mind-kill Goku before he is corrupted by his own power. Chapter 8: Revised Chance - Things are looking up for the Z-Warriors! It still does
1. The Threat Emerges

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REASON

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By The Alchemist

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Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the Dragonball Z characters. I am not making any money off this either. That's why I have a part-time job. I don't clean up after animals after school and on Saturday's for fun.

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Authors Notes: I am not Japanese. I have studied Japanese for four years and have even lived there on an exchange for a month, but I am not Japanese. The chances are you aren't either. For this reason I will be writing in English except for 5 character names. If you really want Japanese in this story then tell me and I'll write the whole thing in Japanese and you can read it that way. Other than that leave me alone.

This story takes place after the whole destruction of Buu thing.

I live in New Zealand and I haven't even seen Trunks on TV yet. Everything I know after that time comes from the internet, so I may have a lot of details wrong. I have tried my best with ages, but again I may be wrong. If so, well, you can just call it an A/U fic.

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Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.

-Allan Bloom

Chapter 1: The Threat Emerges

The hall sat silent, listening intently to Jaques ranting. "There was a time when we were free to choose our own morals, our own future. Now we have been denied that privilege. Now we are all at the mercy of Son Goku. The time of his reign will come to an end, now we shall regain control of our own destiny." An uproar echoed through the hall with hundreds rising to their feet raising their hands high.

There was one whose exuberance was not quite so obvious. Trina stood and cheered, but her heart wasn't in it today. There had been a time when she was happy to be under Son Goku's protection, he seemed a good enough man, but now Mike had convinced her that it wasn't right for anyone to have that much power over the world. "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely," he had said to her numerous times. She had been inclined to agree with him, especially when he spoke so passionately and forcefully. But something kept nagging at the back of her mind, society would never survive if there was not a power hierarchy and Goku seemed like a more than excellent candidate for the position of protector.

"Trina, babe, what's wrong?"

Spinning about abruptly Trina stifled a gasp. "Mike, I didn't know you were there."

"So it would seem. So what's wrong? You don't seem, well, very into this tonight."

"I'm just tired."

"Right." His doubt was evident. "Do you want to go for a walk? Nobody will know."

"Yeah sure."

The air outside was so cold it almost knocked the wind out of Trina's lungs. She instinctively pulled her coat lapels closer to her throat. As they walked down the deserted street they made pleasant, yet strained conversation.

As if from nowhere, Mike suddenly stopped and turned to face Trina. "Son Goku will let the power go to his head soon, Trina. We have got to stop him before he holds the entire planet to ransom. It isn't right for one man to have so much power."

Trina let out a small sigh and watched the small cloud float away from her lips. The speech was getting old. She waved her hand in a non-committed manner. "So you keep telling me, but he hasn't changed yet. I think that if he's made it this far and stayed honest, well, I just wonder if we'd be only moving him over for one far worse than Goku."

"You still don't believe me."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can keep up this up forever. I want out Mike and you know it."

"Babe, you are tired. You just need to sleep. I'll take you home, then I'll call you in the morning and see if you still feel that way."

"Kay." Trina let in and rested her head on Mike's shoulders as he led her to his car. I nearly made it she thought to herself. Still, she knew that in the morning Mike would ring her up and eventually convince her that she was mistaken. She'd been through it before and was almost resigned to her fate, almost.

Back in the hall Jaques was still speaking, unaware that one of his star followers had long ago left. "After years of struggling in vain, we finally have a weapon worthy of Goku... Dr Gero's apprentice, Mr Paul Mancoff." The hall fell silent as a man in his late 50's crept onto the stage.

*

The old man sat at a computer console typing away strings of programming code. His concentration barely wavered despite the noise of the production line in the room next door. A cautious knock was heard at the old wooden door and he abruptly stopped and straightened his back from its hunched curve. He spun his chair about and opened the door to find Jacques standing before him.

"Good afternoon Mr Mancoff. How is your work going?"

"As well as can be expected under these conditions." Small flecks of saliva leapt from his mouth and landed on Jacques's face and shirt, but he pretended not to notice.

"To what conditions are you referring Sir?"

"The continual interruptions!" Mr Mancoff was becoming highly irate now and Jacques decided to choose his words more carefully.

"I'm sorry, I just need an estimate on your time of completion."

Mr Mancoff's eyes lit up as his masters had done so many years ago when he spoke of his work. "Well, with the resources available to me, I'm guessing I can have Nihyakugou, Sanbyakugou, Yonhyakugou and Gohyakugou ready in 4 day's."

"How long before Hyakugou is finished?"

"Well, Hyakugou will take the longest, solely because of his sheer size. It will take a long time to programme all the additional features. Give me a fortnight."

"Wonderful."

"You know, since I'm doing all this work to create Hyakugou you should really be producing several of them. It is by far the most superior android."

"I agree with you, but we do not have endless amounts of money and we'll need to keep some for the day of the revolution."

"Hmm, but surely instead of the other four you could have created one more to the spec.'s of Hyakugou."

"We will not make the same mistake Dr Gero made. We must not concentrate our resources into two androids."

"I hope you know what you are doing."

"I do."

"Give me a fortnight and 4 day's then."

"Very well." Jacques started to retreat quietly shutting the door behind him but just before the door was shut he added, "and thank you Mr Mancoff, the world is in your debt."

Once the door was shut Paul removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It was hard holding up this appearance, but he had to do it in Dr Gero's honour. He couldn't let such genius go to waste. "Not just yet my dear boy, Son Goku will not die easily," he replied to Jacques's statement, very glad that nobody was around to hear him.

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Please review. I'd love to know what you think.

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It's possible, no, its highly likely that this idea has been used before. I'm not a very original person when it comes to fanfiction. I did not intentionally steal anyone's idea so please don't tell me that I did. I don't really read a lot of DBZ fanfiction for the exact same reason, so nobody thinks I stole their idea. There are not a lot of possible variations on plot. Its pretty much, "Oh no, there is a new great power. I must kill it." There's the plot for about half the DBZ fics on ff.net. Mine is not excluded. Motives and origins may change, but it all comes back to the same simple basis. It may not be great literature, but it's fun.


	2. A single blast

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REASON

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By The Alchemist

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Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the Dragonball Z characters. I am not making any money off this either. That's why I have a part-time job. I don't clean up after animals after school and on Saturday's for fun.

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Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.

-Allan Bloom

Chapter 2: A Single Blast

"Dammit Vegeta, there is no way you are leaving me here with Trunks like this."

"I'm sure the brat will cope, just let him rest."

"But we don't have any senzu Vegeta."

"He doesn't need one, he's just a little beat up."

"Vegeta you practically blasted him into the next dimension."

"Maybe he will train harder then to avoid such incidents in the future."

"Vegeta, you are not going."

"Woman, you can't stop me."

"Maybe not, but I can make your life a living hell when you come back."

"Perhaps I won't then."

Bulma was surprised Vegeta had let up so easily, far too easily for her liking, but tried to hide it. "I knew you'd come to your senses."

"No, I meant I won't come back."

"Oh yeah, you'll be back. Just you wait."

The words were wasted on thin air. Vegeta had long since departed to his sparring session with Goku leaving Bulma to look after her unconscious son.

As Vegeta flew he sensed a familiar power. He would almost have gone so far as to say that it was Goku himself if it had not been so undeniably low. Intending to ignore it Vegeta put on a burst of speed and carried on. However, on contemplation Vegeta could not differentiate between the mysterious power and that of Goku and curiosity overcame him. Slightly altering his course he headed towards it, scolding himself for his idiocy the whole way.

There was no doubt about it now - it was Goku. Now Vegeta was faced with a decision, either Goku had been defeated by some power that he was unable to sense in which case Vegeta should power up, or Goku was hiding his power in order to hide in which case Vegeta should be doing the same. A snap decision was made and Vegeta dropped to the forest floor and continued on foot. "I trust that idiot too much," Vegeta muttered.

When the power seemed closer Vegeta began to encounter craters and burnt scrub indicating a battle had taken place recently. Starting to doubt his decision to mask his power Vegeta reminded himself that Goku was far too powerful to be defeated by a battle that nobody else had sensed. There had been no powers raised to a fighting level for ages and Goku wouldn't have gone down without an almighty battle. Despite the logic, something still bothered Vegeta, something he couldn't put his finger on.

A flash of orange could be seen behind a large bush. Vegeta knew now, not only from the power signal, that it was Goku. He stealthily crept towards the orange, glad he could finally clear up this whole episode. However, as he approached he became more aware of the other colour standing out in the clearing, red. No longer bothering to hide Vegeta dashed out from his hiding place and knelt beside the unconscious Goku who was bleeding from a huge wound in his stomach. Vegeta checked for other injuries, unable to find how such a relatively small wound could cause a saiyan to be knocked unconscious.

"Kakkarot," Vegeta urged, shaking Goku's shoulder. Goku's head lolled from side to side, but it seemed that he was out cold. Vegeta began to shake Goku more violently now, desperate for some kind of explanation.

A small groan cracked from Goku's lips and his eyes partially opened, but dropped leaving only two small slits. "Vegeta," he said, his voice strained and his throat sounded dry. "They're...they're coming." With that his head rolled sideways and his body loosened. Instinctively Vegeta's hand started to head out towards Goku's carotid artery, but he withdrew his hand without touching him comforted by the fact that he could still sense Goku's power. "That woman's had too much of an influence on me," he mumbled under his breath.

Once more something began to nag at Vegeta's mind and he tried to brush the feeling aside, but it wouldn't fade. Ignoring it he grabbed Goku's arm and held it over his shoulders and Vegeta wrapped his other arm about Goku's waist and was about to take off when he felt pain, then nothing more.

"Trunks, honey, it's OK." Bulma sat at her son's bedside whispering softly to him as he groaned softly and shifted. He was just starting to come around. His eyes fluttered open, but quickly shut again trying to avoid the glare in his eyes. Pushing the blanket and sheet aside he swung about on his bed and rested his feet on the floor. Forcing his eyes open he found himself facing out his window where the sun was beginning to sink low in the sky.

"Whoa, what's the time Mum?" Trunks groaned groggily.

"It's almost 5 o'clock."

"Damn, Dad's gonna kill me. How long was I out for?" Trunks asked, his eyes slowly attempting to open.

"Almost 9 hours, but don't worry about it. I'm going to kill your father before he ever lay's a finger on you again."

"He's only trying to train me Mum. It's for my own good really. It's just that I haven't been training much lately and..."

Trunks was cut of by his mother, "and he shouldn't have been so hard on you."

"But still, I shouldn't have been sleeping for so long. Dad is so going to kill me."

"You weren't sleeping, you were unconscious and I'll cut a deal with you. Your Dad's not home yet, he's training with Goku, so I will tell him that you came 'round shortly after he left if you will rest a little longer."

"Mum, I'm fine, really. I think I can get up."

"Then you should be well enough to face your father when he finds out you were sleeping for a whole day."

Resigned to his fate Trunks swung his feet back into his bed and lay his head on the pillow, not even realising that he was still only semiconscious.

A few hours later Trunks took in a deep breath and let his eyes shoot open. He felt around his floor for his watch. When he found it he fell back into his bed and read the time, 8.38. As if stung he leapt out of his bed and began tossing on some clothes before running towards the kitchen to grab a snack, fearing the worst from his father. He began to imagine the gruelling hours of training that surely lay ahead of him. It's not that he didn't like training, in fact it was quite the opposite. It was about the only time he got to spend with his father, but Vegeta took it way too seriously. It would seem that the world was at peace, so why did they have to constantly prepare for war? However, of all the things Trunks had expected from his father, he had not anticipated the sight that was about to greet his eyes. When he entered the kitchen he found his mother sitting at the breakfast bar next to the phone with her chin resting on her hands, what he had not expected was the tears that ran down his mother's face.

"Mum, what's wrong?"

Startled Bulma jerked her head up and she hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes. "Trunks, you're up. How do you feel?"

"Fine. What's wrong?"

Bulma seemed to pause for a second before she said, "It's your father, he's still not come home."

"I thought he went training with Goku, he's probably just lost track of time."

Bulma reached an arm out for her son and he quietly approached and wrapped his arms about her. Bulma began to speak a lot more quietly as if she no longer had any strength. "Normally Chi-Chi would have sent him home by now, but I haven't heard anything from her either."

"Mum, Dad's always disappearing without a word. It's kinda rough for you I know, but you've gotten pretty used to it over the years, so what's the real problem?"

"You're not your father's son for no reason are you? You always want an explanation don't you?"

"I just want to help Mum."

"I know, but you can't help me. I really need to talk to Vegeta about this one first and we had a fight before he left and I just wish he'd come home so I could tell him." Bulma's words began to speed up and she ended up in tears with her face buried in her son's torso.

Trunks silently cursed his father for leaving his mother like this. He didn't really understand what had happened, but if his Mum wanted Vegeta around then he would get him. Placing his hands gently on Bulma's shoulders he drew her back. "I'll go find him for you, OK?"

Her son's kindness brought more tears to her eyes, but she managed a small thank you.

Unsure about leaving his mother in this state Trunks glanced backwards as he was about to take off. Thinking quickly he ran to his room and when he returned he waved his cell-phone by Bulma. "I'll take my phone and if Vegeta turns up or you need me for any reason, just give me a ring."

"Mmhm, thanks Trunks."

Trunks shot his mother one final smile then blasted off towards the Son house.

As he flew Trunks grew more and more angry with his father. It was no longer about the constant insults he received from Vegeta, but rather his attitude towards Bulma. She needed him and he was out sparring with Goku. His anger almost overtook him and he returned his concentration to locating his father's power. 

Before long he began to wonder where his father could possibly be. Trunks was close enough to the Son house to locate the power, especially if Vegeta was training with Goku, but he couldn't feel a thing. "What are you up to Dad?" Trunks spoke quietly to himself, almost wishing his father would answer.

Suddenly Trunks felt something, a faint power, but very familiar. "It can't be Dad," Trunks said to nobody in particular. "It's far too weak..." he trailed off realising the implications of his words and repeated them as if hoping it would change something, "It's far too weak." Thinking back to his numerous lectures he recalled that a low power would mean someone hiding equally as often as someone badly injured. Proud he had recalled his lessons he pushed his power down and began to approach the power on foot. Once again he began to wonder what was going on.

"Dad! Goku!" Trunks yelled when he saw his father and Goku. He pressed his fingers onto his father's neck, then repeated the process on Goku. He found that each of their pulses were weak and rapid. He shook his father, hoping for some kind of response but got none. Panic began to set in because there was no way he could carry both Goku and his dad at once and he surely couldn't leave one of them alone in case whatever attacked them returned. Whatever had done this was strong and clever. They had taken down two of the world's strongest men without anyone even sensing a battle. This was what worried Trunks the most, the fact that neither Goku's or Vegeta's power levels had been raised significantly today, at least not that he had noticed. He had been unconscious, but he was sure that the other Z-Warriors would have come running at any indication of such a fight and there was an apparent lack of anyone other than himself.

Not wanting to waste time reflecting on the situation while his father and close friend bled to death he pulled out the cell-phone and called Gohan's house on the automatic dial.

"Hello, this is Videl speaking."

"Videl, its Trunks here. Can I please speak to Gohan? It's urgent."

"Sure, just a sec Trunks." Videl hadn't wasted time in dragging Gohan away from his book, knowing that something was very wrong, just from the tone Trunks had used. Indecipherable mutterings were heard in the background as Videl gave Gohan the phone.

"Trunks? You there?"

"Yeah. Gohan we've got trouble."

"What?"

"I've just found Dad and Goku lying unconscious in the middle of nowhere."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but it looks a lot like they were attacked."

"But we would have sensed any major battle going on. That's not right. Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, but Gohan, we haven't got time for this. I need help getting them out of here."

"Sure, sorry. Where is the middle of nowhere? Tell me and I'll be right there."

"Umm, well about four fifths of the way between my house and your dad's."

"OK, I'm on my way. Oh, and Trunks, do we need senzu?"

"Definitely."

The simple reply caused Gohan to worry even more. Gohan turned off the phone and turned towards his wife who had been listening to the conversation. "Where's Pan?"

"She's sleeping in her room. Why? What's happened?"

"Dad and Vegeta are in trouble. Can you take Pan to your father to take care of, then go to Karin's tower and get some senzu."

Trunks had considered ringing his mother, but decided against it. She would only get really worried and then start crying again and both of these activities would not prove fruitful. Instead he went about trying to stop the bleeding on the two unconscious warriors, without much success.

By the time Gohan arrived Goku's power had slipped even more and Vegeta was beginning to follow suit. "Dad!" Gohan's voice echoed through the forest and caused Trunks to wince. However, he did not blame Gohan for his shock. It was a truly scary sight to see the strongest man alive lying in a pool of his own blood. Taking his father in his arms Gohan said to Trunks, "We'd better take them to your place. It's further, but I can't think of a better plan. We don't really want them in a hospital because the questions tend to get a little hard to answer when they want to know what the scar at the bottom of the spine is from and other stuff like that."

"Kay, but what about the senzu beans?"

"Well, I sent Videl to go and get some so she'll meet us at your place. The sooner we get there the better."

With that the two took their fathers and blasted off towards Capsule Corporation.

When they touched down Trunks and Gohan wasted no time in getting their fathers inside and onto a bed in the medical section of Capsule Corporation. Bulma and Videl had followed trying to keep up with the two boys. Bulma had been asking questions left, right and centre, most of which Trunks couldn't answer.

It did not take long for Bulma's medical knowledge to kick in and she began to hook up the two injured men to every machine imaginable. Trunks and Gohan stood back, suddenly feeling very stupid and helpless.

"Videl, have you got the senzu beans?" Trunks enquired. Gohan had completely forgotten, having been swept up by the shock of seeing his father so vulnerable. Bulma who hadn't even known of the plan also stopped to see if Videl did indeed have any senzu beans.

"Umm..."

"Oh damn. You haven't have you." Trunks seemed to become highly agitated and Gohan could tell he was trying his hardest to restrain himself. It seemed strange to Gohan that Trunks could still love his father so devotedly despite the treatment he constantly received.

"Well, I really need to talk to you about that. You see, when I got to the top of Karin's tower the whole place was pretty torn up, like there had been a fight or something. The place was deserted though, so I'm hoping everyone got out OK, but the real problem is that there was no senzu beans or senzu plant in sight."

The room fell silent except for the quiet beeping of Goku and Vegeta's heart monitors. Gohan was the first to speak up, "We should ring the others and get them together. Whatever is going on it's not good and with Dad and Vegeta down we are going to need all the help we can get."

Bulma and Videl nodded in agreement, but Trunks just stood at his father's side staring at the calm face. Gohan noticed, but said nothing, making a mental note to talk to Trunks as soon as he got the chance.

Videl noticed the tension present in the silence and offered to go and make the phone calls. Bulma announced that she would help her. Had either of the boys been in their right minds they would have realised that it only took one person to make a phone call, but neither noticed this flaw in Bulma's normally impeccable logic. Their thoughts were on the apparent task ahead of them, which at the time seemed far too big for the entire Z-Force combined without the help of Goku and Vegeta.

"Wake up soon Dad," Gohan whispered.

"I'm sorry Dad," Trunks whispered.

Back in the kitchen Videl had rung Yamucha, Tien, Chaotzu and Master Roshi. She had left the two hardest calls to last.

"Hi Maron, it's Videl. Is your Dad there please?"

"Yup, just a minute please Videl."

Videl took the silence as a chance to rub Bulma's arm in silent support. Videl had wondered why Bulma hadn't stayed with Vegeta and Goku, but decided against saying anything.

"Hello, Krillen here."

"Hi Krillen, its Videl."

"Hi Videl. How are you?"

"Fine thanks. Krillen, you'd better come over to Capsule Corporation and bring Juuhachigou. Goku and Vegeta have been attacked and Karin's tower looks like it's had similar treatment."

"Is Goku OK?" Krillen's voice stung of urgency.

"We don't really know."

"How did that happen. Goku's power has barely risen today and he wouldn't have gone down without a fight."

"We don't know, just come and we'll discuss it then."

"OK, I'll be right there."

"Umm, Krillen."

"Yeah."

"You might want to take Maron to my dad's place. He's looking after Pan so I'm sure he won't mind."

"Well, OK."

"Bye Krillen."

"Bye."

Videl hung up the phone then began to dial Chi-Chi's number. This would be the hardest call to make.

Back in the infirmary Gohan had tried to talk to Trunks, but his efforts proved to be in vain. Instead they just sat in silence waiting for the others to arrive.

Videl poked her head around the corner and beckoned to Gohan who silently rose and left. He stared at her puzzled at what she could possibly want.

"We just rang your mum. She's on her way and bringing Goten."

"How'd she take it."

"Not good."

"I'm not surprised." Gohan tried to smile but didn't manage more than a tiny twist of his lips.

"Gohan, do you know where Piccolo is?"

"No, but he wouldn't be hard to find."

"Would you mind? Yamcha, Tien and Chaotzu probably won't be any more than backup and Piccolo, well, he's Piccolo."

At that Gohan did smile. "Nah, it's OK. I'm probably the only one who could find him anyway. Just..." Gohan trailed off for a second as he glanced back towards his father. "Just look after my Dad, please."

"Sure honey." With that Videl drew Gohan towards her and hugged him for a moment before he gently broke the embrace. Videl watched as her husband strode down the corridor.

*

"Jacques, Gohyakugou and Yonhyakugou have destroyed Karin tower. Sanbyakugou and Nihykugou have incapacitated Goku and Vegeta."

"Are they dead?"

"There was a small error in my calculations and..."

"Are they dead?"

"No, as I said there was a small error in my calculations and it would seem that too much power was put into the blasts causing the androids to run out of power before they could destroy Goku and Vegeta."

"So we are going to need Hyakugou?"

"I don't know yet, but I'd say so. Goku will not go down without a fight."

"Goku is a Saiyan. We have five of the most perfect warriors ever. We will win this time."

"I'm just saying that we are going to need to let Nihyakugou, Sanbyakugou, Yonhyakugou and Gohyakugou recharge before we jump into battle again."

"We don't really want to wait. I want Goku out of the equation as soon as possible. Anyway, I thought the androids had unlimited power source."

"They do, but if it is heavily exerted it can take some time to restore the battery to its previous levels. I'll just alter the programming to avoid such an incident again. Do you want me to send out Hyakugou too?"

"Yes. We will not allow them a chance to know what hit them?"

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Please review. I'd love to know what you think.


	3. Goku awakes, "Enemy?"

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REASON

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Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the Dragonball Z characters. I am not making any money off this either, so don't sue me. That two cents is all I have.

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Authors notes: Not a lot of action in this, more of a pilot chapter. It may explain a few questions budding in your mind too. Don't worry, this story was posted in action/adventure for a reason. These notes are a little shorter this time, no?

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Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.

-Allan Bloom

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Chapter 3: Goku awakes, "Enemy?"

Gohan zipped through the sky searching for his mentor. Had he been fully concentrating on the task at hand he would have found him easily, but his thoughts tended to wander to his father. He couldn't get over the shock of seeing his father out cold from such a simple wound. Heading towards the desert where Piccolo had trained him Gohan began to sense a familiar power. "Piccolo," he whispered.

*

Back at Capsule Corporation everyone was there except for Gohan and Piccolo. Chi-Chi was at Goku's side gently stroking his brow, but stayed tuned into the conversation. Trunks still sat at his fathers side and had barely said a word to anyone. Tempers were beginning to fray as each of them tried to comprehend the situation.

"There is no way Goku could have been taken down without us knowing about it. I'll be it was Vegeta," Yamcha said.

"There is no way that Vegeta could have taken down Goku and you know it," Tien finally spoke up.

"Now, now, don't get excited. Both Goku and Vegeta are strong and before you know it they'll be back on their feet and explaining everything to us." Master Roshi had taken it upon himself to act as the voice of reason.

"We may not have that long." Everyone stopped and turned to face Trunks sitting sullenly in the corner. He kept his gaze on his father as he spoke. "Whatever did this isn't stupid. They were smart enough to figure out that they had to take these two down with one strong attack without giving them time to power up or even block the blast. Also they had to have the ability to mask their power entirely. That in itself would show an incredible superiority over what we have, unless..." his voice seemed to linger.

"Unless what, Trunks," Bulma encouraged, knowing how hard it was for Trunks.

"Unless they are androids."

"Androids?" Goten exclaimed.

"Let's not jump to conclusions here son. We don't even know that Vegeta and Goku didn't sense it." Master Roshi once more trying to bring a sense of sanity to the situation.

"Look, I was...sleeping, so I wouldn't have felt a battle anyway, but you guys would have noticed if Goku or Vegeta were locked in any serious struggle, right?"

The warriors in the room all nodded their heads and dropped their eyes to the floor.

Finally Videl spoke up, "So, assuming they are androids, who made them? I mean, Dr Gero's dead. I don't think there is anyone else on the planet who is capable of building androids."

"So you're saying they came from another planet? I don't think so because Dende would probably have known about any landings and he would have told us. No, it comes from Earth all right. When Dr Gero first produced his androids we didn't think anyone was capable of producing androids, but we were very wrong and that cost us a lot." Krillen ended there not wanting to dredge up painful memories of the android invasion if it was at all possible. The whole android discussion was making him uncomfortable as it was, mostly because he was thinking about how Juuhachigou would be taking it. He often wondered how she coped with her past and that was without having it rubbed in her face.

"We are making assumptions again. We should prepare for anything and expect the worse because otherwise we will be caught out by small surprises." Even Krillen was surprised to hear Juuhachigou speak so forcefully.

"OK, so what do you suggest we do then?" Yamcha's tone was less than endearing.

"We should just be prepared for a full onslaught and hope that Vegeta and Goku are healed by the time whatever the threat is returns." Juuhachigou seemed to have taken control of the conversation and almost dared anyone to disagree with her. Trunks assumed that it was because she agreed with him and therefore felt she was the resident expert. Krillen knew that it was because she was still fighting her demons of the past and trying to redeem herself.

When everyone had filtered out of the medical Bulma quietly returned and sat on the opposite side of Vegeta to Trunks. "Trunks," she ventured, receiving only a murmur in reply. "I'm assuming you didn't have such a good time training with Vegeta this morning.

Trunks let out a mournful sigh. "He's so strong Mum. I'll never be as good as him, but he tries so hard to get me there. He never say's it, but I can see that he just wants me to have everything he's ever wanted. He hate's being second best to Goku and tries so hard to avoid me suffering the same fate. The only thing is I can never be the strongest. I just let him down every time."

Bulma was surprised he had opened up so easily. He must have been waiting for someone to talk to, she thought. She went over to Trunks and wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders. "He wants you to be strong because he wants you to be happy. I'll never really understand how a Saiyan mind works, but I know that fighting is an integral part of it and without it you cannot be really happy. He tells you about Saiyan pride, but what he means is your happiness. It's hard for you, but it's hard for him too. He has been raised to push people away. When Frezia was looking after him he never had a friend. He built up a defence system around himself to avoid anyone getting close. Sometimes we don't choose to fall in love though. That's why they call it _falling_ in love, because nobody chooses to fall, it just happens. He never learnt to cope with things like that, so sometimes he deals with it strangely, by our standards anyway."

Trunks looked up at his mother, surprised she understood so much about Vegeta. She'd never really spoken to him about his father in that manner. "I know Mum." The scary thing was that he meant it. He understood what his father had been through and he so badly wanted to help him, but he never could. He never could get beyond the Princely facade of his father and that hurt him so badly he wanted to cry, so he did. He pushed his face into his mother's shoulder for a second, then pulled away, angrily swiping the tears from his eyes.

"It's OK to cry Trunks."

"Warriors never cry."

Half an hour later Trunks gently shook his mother awake, "Mum, I think Goku's coming around."

Bulma's sluggish attitude quickly dropped and she rushed to Goku. She pressed a few buttons on the computer sitting next to Goku and several graphs and lines Trunk's barely had time to decipher came onto the screen. "I think you're right Trunks," she announced.

Trunks gave her a small smile and looked expectantly at his father, hoping for a similar miracle.

Bulma noticed this, but didn't have time to think of anything reassuring to say, instead she rushed off to gather the others together.

Bulma came tearing in and grabbed the doorframe to regain control of her momentum. "Goku's coming 'round," she panted. The sound of chairs scraping across the floor was followed by eager footsteps.

The group crowded into the small room to find Goku blinking hard trying to restore his vision to its full potential. Krillen noted that Trunks had moved to Goku's side, but every thirty seconds or so he would glance back hopefully at his father. Goku pushed himself up in the bed and began twisting his neck. When he finally seemed to have regained his composure the room was still silent. "Hi," Goku said, grinning sheepishly.

As if waiting for that cue, Goten rushed up to his father and jumped up on the bed causing it to creak slightly and then squeezed his father tightly as if he would disappear if he let go.

Goku seemed surprised by this, but only a second later he was returning the gesture. Then he noticed Chi-Chi was glaring at him rather angrily. Goten seemed to notice Goku's embrace losen so turned about.

"Goten, get off that bed now."

"Chi-Chi, he's OK."

"Goku! You are supposed to be resting." The cold glare that accompanied the words caused Goten to slide off the bed and Goku inched back further into his bed.

The second of awkward silence was broken by Bulma who asked Goku how he was feeling.

"I'll be fine."

"Goku, this is not time for the bravado act. We have got an enemy out there that too you and Vegeta down, no problem. We need to know if you are up to fighting and if not what needs fixing before we throw you into the action."

"Excuse me. My Goku needs time to rest and heal before you start sending him into battle. Can't you see that that." Chi-Chi's more notorious qualities had finally kicked in.

"Chi-Chi, I'm alr..."

"Goku, don't you worry. You just rest and we'll sort this all out."

"Chi-Chi, calm down, we need to find out what Goku knows about the enemy," Master Roshi said.

"We need to let him rest."

"He can rest later, right now we..."

"Umm, excuse me, guys?" Goku finally gained Chi-Chi's and Master Roshi's attention.

"Yes Goku honey?"

Goku's eyebrows knitted and he paused for a second as if he had forgotten what he had intended to say. "What happened to Vegeta? And, well, umm, enemy?"

All eyes fixed on Goku, hoping he would denounce his unusual joke. No such blessing came. Instead he repeated the question, "What happened to Vegeta? Who is the enemy? What is going on?"

More blank stares came.

"Is anyone going to answer me?"

Surprisingly, Trunks was the first to come out of his dumbstruck state. "Goku, we don't know. We found you and Dad lying unconscious in the middle of a forest. We were hoping you could tell us what we are up against."

"How do you know it was a deliberate attack?"

"The worlds two strongest men don't just collapse of their own accord Goku." Yamcha finally built up the courage to say what everyone was thinking. "Something happened out there and we need to know what."

Chi-Chi disapproved of the others putting so much pressure on Goku when he was still in obvious need of rest, but had realised the importance of any information that could be rattled out of Goku.

Bulma decided to take a far more logical approach to the situation. "Look guys, if Goku was taken down with one strike without any chance to defend himself, then he is obviously not going to remember the enemy is he?" This made enough sense to everyone and seeing that Bulma continued. "Goku, tell us what you remember doing last."

Goku paused thoughtfully then launched into his somewhat simplified explanation, "I was in the forest."

Everyone waited for him to finish his story, but no continuation came.

"Dad, we need to know more than that."

"I know Goten, I'm thinking."

"Give Goku time to think Goten. His body has undergone quite a lot of stress in the last few hours so it might be hard for him to remember." Bulma tried to explain as gently as possible.

Goku still stared blankly for a second before a look of realisation washed over his face. "I know, I was in the forest because Vegeta was late for sparring, so I thought I might as well go for a walk and pick up some fish for dinner while I was at it. I was just about at the pond when..."

Nobody said anything, not wanting to break his train of thought.

Goku gasped as if he had been holding his breath. "I...I don't remember anything else."

Nobody said anything for a while. Their only real source of information other than speculation had just proved to be non-existent. Juuhachigou seemed to suddenly remember her position as leader and ordered everyone out to let Goku rest. She noticed Trunks did not follow her, but decided not to make anything of it. He probably wouldn't disturb Goku, he was about as quiet as his father right now.

Once everyone had moved several metres down the hallway they raised their voices to a normal volume and began once more arguing over their theories on the situation. Videl slipped up beside Bulma and held her back a little separating her from the crowd.

"Do you realise that if this comes to an all out battle, and it probably will, Trunks is going to be one of our main defences. With Goku and Vegeta ou..." Videl remembered Bulma's association with Vegeta and quickly rethought her choice of words, "unable to fight Gohan will probably be leading the attack. However, he won't be able to do this alone. Whatever this is it's way too smart and strong to go down so easily."

"I understand the situation, is there a point to this?" Bulma snapped.

"I just wondered if Trunks will be up to it. You probably know him better than anyone."

"I think so. Once he's got something to fight for I don't think you could stop him."

"And he has something to fight for?"

Bulma nodded. "His father's life."

"What," Videl practically screeched.

"You can't tell me you think it's coincidence that Goku and Vegeta were the first ones to be struck. Someone knows what they are to this planet and wants them out of the equation."

"But surely Vegeta will be up and about in time by the time the war really escalates?"

"I don't know, the last assault was quick. Whoever is doing this knows that the fight has to be fast and precise if it is to be won."

Videl was surprised by Bulma's tactical knowledge. She could analyse an aggressor as well as she analysed her various machines.

"So you really think Trunks and Gohan are going to have to carry this battle?"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Videl accepted the question avoidance and decided to back off. Instead she rejoined the group and listened politely as they all recounted sparring sessions and other battles, clearly sick of asking questions that nobody could answer.

Videl's little talk had sparked a nagging question in Bulma and she had left to talk to Trunks as soon as she saw Videl rejoining the larger group.

"Trunks, there's something I need to ask you."

"What?"

Bulma took in a deep breath and looked over Goku ensuring he was still asleep. "If Goku and your father aren't ready for battle when these guys attack, will you...will you be ready to fight them."

"Not only will I fight them Mum, but I'll kill them. I haven't forgotten what you told me earlier, about having to talk to Dad about something. They'll regret this. I only wish you could talk to me about whatever's bothering you." Again Trunks whispered to himself as if making an oath, "I will kill them."

"I'm so lucky to have you Trunks." Tears were beginning to form in Bulma's eyes. She had almost been swept up by the excitement of the day and she had long since dismissed her thoughts of her conversation with Trunks. "Just take care won't you. Whatever happens, look after yourself."

Trunks smiled a genuine smile for the first time that day. "For you Mum, anything."

Not much later everyone was asleep in their designated beds. The day had taken a lot out of everyone. Only one person in the whole building remained awake, Trunks, still sitting at his father's bedside, no longer forced to hold back. "I'm so sorry Dad. One day...one day I'll make you proud of me. When those guys come back, they won't know what hit 'em. I don't know how I'm gonna kill someone who took you down without an afterthought, but if that will make you proud of me, I'll do it a hundred times. Just stick with me Dad." Trunks let his vision wander to the various machines hooked up to his father. He knew enough to see what his mother hadn't told him, Vegeta wasn't good. "Just stick with me." Trunks then rested his head on the side of his fathers bed and with a long sigh, shut his eyes.

*

Back in the desert Gohan had located Piccolo and had just finished relaying the day's events to him. Piccolo had stood in silence for the duration, waiting to get all the facts from his student before he went asking stupid questions. However at the conclusion of Gohan's explanation, one huge question mark still hung over his head.

"Gohan, what attacked your father?"

"We don't know."

"Gohan, after all the years I've spend training you I would think you should know that knowledge of the enemy is the most important thing. Remember, an enemy that cannot be seen cannot be hunted. An enemy that cannot be heard cannot be traced. An enemy that cannot be touched cannot be hurt, but an enemy that cannot be understood..."

"Cannot be killed. I know, but neither Goku or Vegeta are in the mood for telling us anything and nobody else has seen or felt anything. We have zero information. Zip, nadda, nothing, zilch."

"So it would seem, but the complete absence of any information would indicate that something very weird is going on, especially with your father in the thick of it."

"Pi-ccolo," Gohan whined.

"Sorry, I find it hard to believe sometimes that you are actually related to Goku."

"Why don't we discuss my heritage on the way. I don't like leaving Dad while he's still out of it."

"Whatever you think kid."

With that the two headed towards the horizon, trying to block the setting sun from their eyes.

*

"Trina, babe, sweety, don't leave yet."

"I'm sick of this party though. Everyone just quotes Jaques then asks to buy you a drink."

"Really? Nobody's offered to buy me a drink. Where are these friends of yours, they sound like my kind of people."

"Mike, can we just go?" Mike looked at Trina with a touch of disappointment, he had hoped this party would have raised her spirits. It was after all the celebration of their first successful attack. Deep down he knew that she wasn't into this, but he wanted her to be so badly that he kept fooling himself and her into keeping up the charade. If she didn't believe in him and his cause, then he just couldn't face her.

Unaware of the slight discord at the back of the hall Jaques continued his way through the crowd, taking the praise and congratulations a little less than graciously. He seemed to revel in the attention, even if he did constantly declare it was unwarranted.

Mr Mancoff seemed to appear from the background and quietly tapped Jaques on the arm. Jaques raised a hand to indicate he had noted him, but finished his conversation before turning to face him. No point in asserting a little authority is there, he thought. From day one he had worried about who would be in control here and had tried his best to maintain his stature in the group. He had been relieved to see that Paul had no desire to improve his social standing at all and posed no real threat, but Jaques kept his guard up just in case.

"Jaques, Sanbyakugou and Nihyakugou have recharged."

Jaques seemed to stare for a second and Paul had began to wonder if he had indeed understood what he had said. Then a broad grin threatened to cross his face, but this was quickly suppressed. Instead Jaques demurely stepped onto the stage and called for the crowd's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a treat in store for you."

The stifled mutters soon faded to silence and Jaques could feel all the eyes on him, waiting, expecting, wanting.

"Tonight you will all witness history. You will all witness the event that set our world back on course. Tonight...you will witness the death of Son Goku."

An uproarous cheer rang through the hall and lasted for at least two minutes before Jaques raised his hands indicating that he wished to speak again.

"Mr Mancoff has just informed me that our android army are ready for action, so within the next half hour we will deploy them for our final assault. This was not intended to occur tonight, but thanks to Paul's excellent work, we shall have our future a little earlier. In honour of what you have done for our cause I invite you all to witness Son Goku's final hour."

Again cheers rang through the hall, but this time Jaques was unable to gain control over the unveiled emotion. Realising that he would be unable to speak for sometime he dismounted the stage and approached Mr Mancoff.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Paul asked, already knowing the answer.

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

*

__

Thanks for reading. Please review. I'd love to know what you think.

*


	4. Divide and Conquer

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REASON

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or any of the Dragonball Z characters, they belong to Akira Toriyama. I'm not making any money off writing this stuff so to all those fanfic readers who were planning on suing me (as you do), tough luck.

****

Authors notes: You are all granted a sigh of relief, something happens.

Sorry about the length though, I'm trying my best to keep these chapters short, but it's hard. You have no idea how much I cut out of this.

**__**

Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.

-Allan Bloom

****

Chapter 4: Divide and Conquer

In the middle of a desert with the sun long gone and the horizon stretching out Gohan stopped. He stopped with such haste that Piccolo had travelled a good hundred metres before he could react and do the same.

"Do you feel that Piccolo?"

"Sure do, but it feels like your Dad to me kid."

"That's what I thought, but it can't be. He's still healing. That power is at least a Super Saiyan."

Without further discussion the two changed their course and headed towards the strange power emanating from somewhere in the desert they were about to leave. Neither knew what they were running into, but both knew that it was serious. Gohan was probably the worst affected by the whole situation because he hated being in the dark, especially when his father was involved. That wasn't all though, there was still one thing nagging at the back of his mind, it could also be Goten.

A few moments later Piccolo and Gohan quietly dropped to the ground and pushed their power levels down.

"Gohan, you can't feel anything, can you?"

"Are you kidding, Dad's power is rising by the minute."

"Yeah, but think about it. Who is he fighting? Can you even detect the slightest presence of an enemy?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Then I think we can be fairly sure of what we are up against."

Gohan didn't bother asking what Piccolo was talking about, each acknowledged the desire not to bring up memories of the androids or any past battle for that matter. Instead Gohan slightly nodded and followed Piccolo towards the power.

"Piccolo, if that's my Dad, then surely it'll be OK. If he's up to fighting then he can just go to Super Saiyan Three, then he'll be able to handle whatever this is."

"We don't know that he's fully healed, the others may have just run out of alternatives. Besides, they took him down once..." Piccolo trailed off and indicated to Gohan to be quiet.

Gohan froze and peered at the horizon hoping to see what his trainer had, but to no avail. "What?" Piccolo shot Gohan a warning glance and he wisely shrunk back. Piccolo's brow creased with concentration. Gohan's eyes flicked about looking for what could have Piccolo so ruffled.

Without warning Piccolo's eyes snapped open and he started to yell, "Gohan, go! It's not your father, it's so..." The words were cut off by a huge blast aimed straight at the pair. Piccolo leapt to block the attack, shielding Gohan in the process.

Manouvering the blast Piccolo managed to send it heavenward. Gohan frowned as he listened to the laboured breathing as he instinctively dropped to a fighting position, but he had no idea what he was meant to be defending himself from. He could still feel his father's power, but now it was way too high. "Piccolo, he's gone Super Saiyan Three."

"NO!"

Gohan was surprised by Piccolo's harsh tone, something he wasn't used to when there was nobody else around. Normally, even with others around, there was a slight touch of compassion in his words even if the words themselves sounded harsh. However this time Piccolo was really worked up over something. Gohan looked at his face seeking an explanation for his strange behaviour.

"Gohan, that is not your father. I don't know who it is, but either someone is imitating his power, or I've gone completely insane."

Gohan still scanned Piccolo's face searching for answers. "Piccolo, you aren't making any sense."

"Can't you sense that emptiness? There is something missing in that power, something that you probably notice without even realising it. I don't really know what it is, but there is something in Goku's power that advertises his nature, it's in yours too. However, it's not in that power. That is not Goku."

Gohan stared at his master, in complete awe. Gohan knew that without Piccolo he would have rushed into this battle headfirst. Although he may out-power him a hundred times Piccolo always had a small edge that emerged from his scepticism and experience. "Then what is it?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is it just attacked us. Can you see your father doing that?"

Gohan could not fault the logic and dropped his head.

"Head up! We are in a battlefield!"

Gohan instantly returned his attention to the task at hand dodging yet another ball of power heading towards him.

*

Soft whimpers echoed through the empty room. The door cracked open and Chichi crept in to comfort her youngest son.

"Dad, no, no, no. NOOO!" Goten sat up in the bed with a start, his eyes wide open.

"Goten dear, it's alright." Chichi adjusted her weight on the edge of the bed and took her son's head in her arms and held it to her chest. "It's OK, it was just a nightmare. Dad's fine."

Goten pushed his mother away and looked into her eyes, "No he's not. I can feel him." Goten let out a slow breath. "Mum, he's fighting."

"Goten, it's alright. You just had a bad dream. Dad's still sleeping."

"No Mum. I can feel it."

Chichi stopped for a second letting the words sink in. She knew better than to doubt Goten on such matters, but still something told her that Goku wouldn't have crept out to face some nameless enemy without even consulting the others. Needing some confirmation of Goten's claims she jumped to her feet and rushed off leaving him alone in the darkness bewildered and confused. He called out to her, but she was long gone. "There's something else Mum, something's missing." His words fell on the silent walls.

In the medical sector Chichi rested her gaze on her husband. She withheld a sigh of relief for fear of waking any of the room's inhabitants. Goku's body was illuminated by the faint glow of all the medical equipment in the room and his chest rose and fell steadily. Somehow this sight didn't comfort Chichi entirely. Goten had spoken with such conviction. Needing a little more assurance she decided to get a second opinion.

"Trunks, wake up." Chichi prodded at the youth's side causing him only to stir in his sleep. Impatiently she began to shake Trunks violently and he awoke.

"Mmm, what?"

"Wake up!"

"I am awake." Trunks said his eyes still closed and his head still resting on his forearms.

"No you're not."

"Fine." Trunks took in a deep breath and laboriously lifted his head and forced his eyes open. "Chichi? What's up?"

"Can you feel Goku's power?"

Trunks's head shot up. His eyes flicked towards Goku's heart monitor expecting to find a flat line. Then the faint recognition of a powerful fighter emerged in his consciousness and his head sank a little lower and he rubbed a hand over his face. "Chichi, he-" Trunks stopped mid-sentence and Chichi could see the familiar marks of confusion set into the naturally hard lines of his face. "Chichi, we need to get the others." Not bothering to question Trunks, Chichi took a final look at Goku and hurried off to wake up, but Trunks stopped her before she left.

"Oh, and don't forget Goten. We may need Gotenks for this one."

Chichi was clearly not excited about the idea but said nothing.

As she strode down the corridor she glanced at a clock. It read 1.15. She began to wonder where Gohan was, but not allowing panic to set she decided to concentrate on one thing at a time. With that in mind she set off down the hall.

*

"Mr Mancoff, I need to know that you are absolutely sure the androids are ready. If we are going to destroy Son Goku it's going to take everything they've got. This is a once off chance. If we foul this up then we have lost. Goku will figure out the few weaknesses that ou-"

"Weaknesses? Sir, I think you underestimate what we have done here."

"No! If I've learnt one thing over these years, it's that Son Goku knows about weaknesses. He can find a weakness that the enemy themselves didn't know existed."

"Trust me Sir, we are going to do some serious damage here."

"Is that a guess or a certainty?"

"It's certain." The slight hesitation before answering did not go unnoticed.

"Need I remind you that these robots are not replaceable, nor is the plan. It's now or never. If you aren't sure about this then I need to know about it."

Paul knew that it was not really an option. Had he actually said that he had his doubts he would probably find himself facing a very angry mob despite the fact that all of Jaques's followers had been told to meet in the park so as not to give away their point of command. "It will work Sir." Paul just hoped that Jaques didn't detect the slight crack in his voice, the sharp swallow and the uncertainty in his eyes. Trying to hide these telltale signs he began to punch various codes and instructions onto the computer. After twenty seconds he turned and looked up at his boss, "Awaiting your command."

*

A tall yet solid figure stepped into view as if from nothing. Gohan and Piccolo fixed their eyes on the opponent, but kept looking out for any other foes. There could be no debate about it now - this was an android. Although the figure looked perfectly human, there was something very wrong. His eyes were empty, his power non-existent. Instead Goku's sense of being emanated through his every pore. However, both Gohan and Piccolo knew that this conception was very wrong and dangerous. Beneath the guise this was a very serious threat. The heavy black hair was cut fairly short, but somehow managed to stir in an intangible breeze. For a second he and Gohan locked eyes, but neither was willing to break the gaze, almost like two children caught in a staring contest.

Suddenly, the power that had resembled Goku's turned off. There was no sign of it fading or being pushed down. It just disappeared. Each of the warriors paused for a second, dumbfound and Gohan began to flick his eyes about once more. Their concentration was broken by a war cry shooting out from behind them. Gohan spun around in enough time to catch a metal boot in his face. Recovering from the blow he leapt back and resumed his fighting stance. Piccolo swung his head back and forward trying to gain a grasp of the situation. Basically their senses were being toyed with throwing each of them severely off balance. Still, their vision was fine and it didn't take long for them to realise that there were actually two identical men standing on either side of them. The wordless agreement was settled on as Gohan locked his eyes on his original opponent as Piccolo claimed the second android.

There were no words exchanged, no threats, taunts or final offers. The android did not even seem interested in Gohan. It would just dodge attacks and use fairly simple tactics to avoid being blasted into the next dimension. This alone was enough to put Gohan out, but Piccolo was unperturbed. He noticed Gohan's hestitation and called out to him.

"Gohan, focus!"

Gohan wasn't the type that needed to be told twice. There was something very odd about this android and that made him very nervous. When Gohan was nervous he tended to keep his guard up.

As if taking some unheard cue the two twins charged up some type of attack and hurled it at their respective opponents. The sudden change of heart on the enemies' behalf confused Piccolo, but already Gohan was learning from their behaviour, knowing that if this is what defeated his father then they were going to need to have a good plan to stop them.

Gohan decided to once more take the offensive to test the limits of his opponent. His hands and feet blurred in a quick series of strikes, few of which landed. The reactions of each proved to be fairly evenly matched as Gohan wove about and ducked the retaliations. It seemed that each of the parties involved were interesting in a swift fight as they separated for a second causing a pause in the battle. Taking full advantage of this opportunity Gohan began to power up. Sparks of electricity began to weave in his aura pulsing in time with his heartbeat. Probably realising the implications of this the android once more began to gather his power, collecting it into a huge swirling mass about twice the size of Gohan. Launching it towards Gohan with unrivalled speed it seemed to hang for a second taking advantage of its momentum, but giving Gohan a vital instant to prepare.

Had Gohan's concentration not been so fiercely undivided on the battle at hand he would have heard the desperate cries of his trainer, "Don't block it!"

Instead Gohan reached his hands out to gain control of the fiery ball. The surprise on his face was not able to be disguised when no power met his hands. Instead it penetrated Gohan's fingertips and worked its way through his body causing his muscles to tense rapidly. Momentarily Gohan stood in the silent battlefield, all actions paused by the unusual change of events. His eyes glazed over, then his body dropped and broke out into spasms before loosening entirely.

Piccolo stared at his young student for a second, unable to comprehend the events that had just taken place. His feet left the ground as he flew to Gohans side. However, he had barely left the ground when the two twins put themselves between Piccolo and Gohan. Coming to a quick stop Piccolo glared at his opponents. The hatred that resided in his eyes barely compared to what he was feeling. Gohan was slipping away and Piccolo could feel it.

"You're mine." Piccolo's voice never wavered, but his eyes warned of destruction. 

*

"It's gone!" Goten's unusual outburst was rewarded with several questioning stares. Goten was unflustered, "Trunks, that power disappeared."

Ever since they had started the debate on their course of action Goten had insisted upon calling it 'that power,' refusing to believe that it was his father. Nobody could sense what he described as an emptiness, but he was adamant that there was something different about the power. Considering that Goku was in the room next to the Z-Warriors his theory was quickly accepted, but still puzzled over.

Trunks stared at the other warriors in the room. He felt strange having such an immense strength superiority over men over twice his age. They looked to him for help, rather than vice versa and this was something he feared he may never get used to.

"Normally I'd consider a disappearing power a good thing, but Gohan's still out looking for Piccolo and that worries me. There is no way it should take this long." Juuhachigou shot an apologetic look towards Videl and Chichi fearing an outburst, but none came. Trunks relaxed a little, glad to be out of the limelight. His relief was short lived.

"Trunks, we have to go find Gohan." Goten's impatience was clear, but his fear more evident. Trunks looked to the others hoping for inspiration, but his eyes soon wandered to his life-long friend. Seeing the concern in his eyes he realised that he had to do something. He opened his mouth to speak, but before the first word could escape his lips Krillen cried out.

"Piccolo! Gohan!" Bulma, Chichi and Videl began to look throughout the room, desperately seeking someone that would tell them what was going on. Instead the warriors stood with their jaws hanging open obviously concentrating on something.

Patience wearing thin Chichi yelled at her son, "Goten, what is it?" His apparent lack of hearing only succeeded in frustrating the women more. Chichi grabbed Goten by his shoulders and shook him back into reality. He looked up at his mother and paused as if unsure what to say. "Gohan is fighting Mum, so is Piccolo, but I can't sense what they are fi-." Goten stopped mid-sentence and once more each of the warriors in the room fell to a trance like state. Goten looked up at his mother once more, this time with fear in his eyes, something uncommon to such a confident young warrior.

Trunks suddenly burst out, "Gohan is coming, Piccolo too. They'll be here any minute."

Not wasting any time the group raced outside to greet Gohan and Piccolo. Each strained their necks back scanning the sky's for any approaching travellers, Goten's hesitation forgotten.

Goten leaned towards Trunks and whispered, "That's not Gohan or Piccolo."

Trunks gave Goten a blank stare.

"They've got the same emptiness that the other power had, the one that felt like Dad's."

"You're just imagining things."

"Maybe, but answer this, how did they move so quickly? One second they were miles away, then suddenly they were only a few minutes away."

Trunks looked at his friend, fearing the answer. "We'll wait and see."

Goten was obviously not very keen on this idea, but decided to say nothing until he was absolutely sure. Still he could feel the familiar powers at the back of his mind and just hoped that he was imagining that increasing discrepancy.

*

"Mike, this has gone way too far. I'm leaving now. Don't say anything OK. You're a real sweet talker, but I'm not falling for it again. I want out, if that means that I have to leave you here then that's alright with me." The confidence that came through in Trina's words was entirely faked. The thing that scared her most was that Mike would not say anything. Her rehearsed speech had come out well, but something in her told her that she didn't want it to end there. It's not love, she had told herself. I can walk away from him. Despite repeating these things over and over to herself nothing changed. She didn't want to leave Mike and was desperately hoping he would say something that would justify her staying. That was all that ate away at her, none of this had been justified. Mike had repeated the manical preachings of Jaques, but never seemed to be able to fully explain the motives.

"Trina, if I know you half as well as I think I do, you are waiting for me to justify this whole thing to you."

The words startled Trina, burning into her giving her hope. Maybe there was a reason that she hadn't heard before, maybe there was something he'd been holding back.

Mike noticed her unusual reaction, but pretended not to. "I truly believe that without a reason for all this you'll walk off right now. You've tried before, but you seem to know when enough is enough. That is why I'll let you in on the real reason both of us a here." Trina looked into Mikes eyes, seeing something she'd never seen before, or maybe just something she'd never looked to see before, sincerity. "It's all for you."

The simple words caused Trina to reel slightly back from Mike's grasp. She looked back at his eyes, not sure what to expect. She silently pleaded him to elaborate.

"I've never told you the real story have I?"

"I...I don't think so."

"I've seen the androids Trina. They cannot be defeated. You knew me before this, you know I believed that Son Goku would prevail over anything. Now, well, I think this could be for real."

"So you just want to be on a winning team. Well great, I'm happy sticking with the right team."

"Shhh, don't let anyone hear you talking like that, especially not tonight. Just listen to me, Jaques is going to win and when he does gain control I don't want to have opposed him. He's a megalomaniac. He is exactly what he is trying to protect the world from. The only trouble is he is a smart megalomaniac." Mike stopped abruptly and avoided Trina's stare, unsure whether or not to go on. He lowered his voice to a whisper barely audible to Trina. Throughout his speech he had spoken quietly so as not to let anyone hear his treacherous comments. However, now it seemed to him that the very air he breathed could have ears. "Dr Gero was brilliant, but this Mancoff guy, he's pure genius. I've seen a little more than I should have Trina; I've seen the plans. These two are sick and won't stop at anything and their plans prove that. If only you knew what I was talking about, then you'd understand my fears." Trina suddenly became acutely aware of the fear that was pulsing through Mike. She realised what she had failed to see all these months. He was here for entirely selfish reasons. The whole time she had kidded herself that no harm would arise from his obsession by reassuring that this proved he had passion and commitment for what he believed was right. Suddenly the man she had believed she loved faded to dust and slipped through her fingers. She had wasted all this time loving a man that did not exist. No longer did she want a justification, all she wanted was the Mike she fell in love with to come and get her out of this whole mess.

"Trina, I know you are probably thinking I did this to save my own neck. You are wrong, I did this for you. I suffered your condescending lectures and pitiful stares knowing that one day it would probably save your life. I'm not a hero Trina, I'm a coward and you know it. If there is a way I can keep you around long enough to love me as I do you that doesn't involve courage I'll take it. Trina..." For the first time in ages Mike found himself short of words. He'd been so used to repeating another mans words he felt unsure of how to use his own. "I love you."

Trina spun about and slapped Mike hard on the cheek. The sound reverberating through the icy cold air and silencing their immediate neighbours. Mike rubbed his face while Trina completed her statement with the words, "Don't you dare say that to me now."

"Why not? I mean it. I mean it more than I thought I could. You've sought the truth the whole time and when I finally tell you, this happens."

"It's not what you said, it's not even the way you said it. It's when you said it Mike." Trina found herself already being drawn back to the cause. He seemed so sincere, more so than she had ever seen him. Something in his eyes begged her to stay, the fear was still there, but he was afraid for her. Her heart told her to give it up and let herself fall into his welcoming arms. Still her mind told her that this wasn't wise, this wasn't as romantic as it seemed. The battle did not last long, Mike had given her reason to believe and reason to stay. That's all I wanted, she told herself. For a second she allowed herself to wonder why her mind did not answer, then she pushed the thoughts away and let herself be swept up by the sweet justifications of the gathering group.

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Thanks for reading. Please review, I'd love to know what you think.

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Incidentally, this will be my last post for two or three weeks. Next week I'm going on a trip up north for a week with friends. The day I return I'm heading down south to visit some relatives for another week.


	5. Closing In

Chapter 5: I am your father ****

REASON

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Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.

-Allan Bloom

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Disclaimer: The Dragonball characters and concepts in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Akira Toriyama and I'm not Akira Toriyama because if I was I don't think this would be called a fanfic. I'm not making any money off posting this.

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Authors Notes: Sorry that this took so long. I'd like to say that from now on these will be more regular, like before, but exams are coming up so I don't see that happening. Don't blame me, blame the stupid cyclone and assignments and my boss and exams and hangovers. By the way, if this is getting confusing then tell me. I tend to get very confusing at time because I know what I'm talking about, but I forget you don't. Just be warned that certain things are meant to be slightly confusing at the minute, but you should be able to understand the basic plot.

For those who wanted me to stop cutting parts out of my story then the full version is now available, it's published as a separate story, hopefully very near this one. I will continue to post both versions for the rest of this story.

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Chapter 5: Closing In

The group scanned the skies, waiting and hoping that Gohan and Piccolo would land before them any second with apologetic grins on their faces. Goten did not expect such a thing to occur, deep down he knew it was impossible, but he still hoped. He looked over at Trunks, who quickly looked away trying to pretend he had not being studying Goten closely, wondering why he was sensing something that nobody else could. Goten knew that Trunks thought he was being foolish, but he knew for sure that these powers did not belong to the people they felt like.

Just as the impatience began to show amongst the group, two small specks appeared on the horizon. It was mere chance that Goten managed to see them, as everyone had expected an aerial arrival. Goten however was trying his best to think outside the box, as something rather unusual was going on and he knew it. There was something about this enemy that worried him, they weren't the typical, 'I must be the strongest and control the world' enemy. Instead they seemed to have tact and stealth and definitely a lot of understanding of the Z-Warriors fighting style. He took a double take, making certain his eyes weren't lying to him. Realising that the figures were not a figment of his hyperactive and nervous imagination he alerted the others to the presence. Everyone watched closely, unsure of how to react. It certainly could have been Piccolo and Gohan, but Goten was acting very defensive, not taking his eyes off the approaching specks. To Goten the advance seemed to take forever, he could almost hear the gentle tick of the clocks in the world slow down. The closer they came, the more he could sense the void in the souls of these things. "Androids." The comment was simple and clear and now nobody doubted his assumption and fully accepted the fact that someone had been imitating the power of their close friends. Each of them took a fighting stance, now also waiting alongside Goten. Suddenly, to all the approach became tedious and deliberately frustrating. They were all too familiar with the mind games that Gero's androids had played.

Krillen, trying not to let his voice shake too much said, "Bulma, Chichi, Videl,you'd better get inside."

Bulma opened her mouth to protest, but Chichi gave her a gentle tug on the arm and whispered to her, barely audibly, "Go look after Vegeta." Chichi knew she had hit a soft spot, something that Bulma would deny in the future, because Bulma gave up and almost hastily returned to the shelter of Capsule Corporation.

"Chaotzu, you'd better go too." Tien said. Although it pained him to batter his confidence so, Tien knew that Chazotzu just wasn't strong enough. However, at the back of his mind something reminded him that none of them were really. Not even Vegeta or Goku had been strong enough to win, so what chance could they possibly have. Trying to ignore the morbid thoughts that wormed into his mind he looked at the warriors around him, noticing similar fear reactions.

As the two silhouettes moved closer it became very clear that they were the androids. The two approaching with saccharine smiles imprinted on their faces and evil imprinted in their eyes. The way they carried themselves alone told the group that they were androids. They were immortal beings, unaware of such human vices as fear and remorse. It was likely they didn't even know of death's cruel games. The confident strides were still strangely relaxed. Their short black hair was tousled by the slight breeze making their silent smiles appear even more foreboding.

Fear was beginning to breed amongst the warriors. "Why are they taking so long?" Yamucha cried out in frustration. Nobody answered, it was not a question that required an answer and in any case nobody could answer without proving to themselves through their nervous ramblings just how afraid they were. Instead the group waited in silence.

*

"Sir, Yonhyakugou and Gohyakugou encountered some resistance during their search for Goku. There were two of them, but sensors indicate they fled from the scene after only a short battle. However, during the battle a Hisan no Kosen was fired."

"Why? The androids should not be wasting power on such insignificant matters so soon before the great battle."

"They've still got at least ten minutes before they find Goku, so there will be plenty of time to recharge. Besides, the android logic systems enable them to make judgement calls such as that one. If they used Hisan no Kosen then there will have been a good reason for it..." Paul's voice faded as his attention was drawn towards the screen, "which there was. Take a look at this, sir."

Jaques leaned towards the screen. "What? What am I looking at?"

Paul pressed a few buttons, and enlarged the grainy image on screen. "We've just received these images from Gohyakugou." Typing in a few more commands the image began to grow clearer. "It's Son san's son, Gohan."

"So Gohan has been hit with a Hisan no Kosen."

Paul nodded blankly.

"Then god truly is on our side."

The simple quote drew Paul's attention. It amazed him to think that Jaques was fighting God's war in his mind. He had originally hated the pompous attitude of Jaques, but he was starting to sound a little more than fanatical.

"Do we have an approximate time of impact?"

"Umm," Paul squinted at the screen. "Approximately 0157 hours."

"And how much longer till Vegeta and Goku start to feel the effects of the Hisan no Kosen?"

"Only a few more hours."

*

"Hang in there." Piccolo told Gohan as he gently lay him on the dry earth. Gohan let out a low moan in his unconscious state. Piccolo quickly checked Gohan over properly searching for any additional damage other than the scalded hands. Piccolo had fled the scene without any plan other than getting away from the battle. Not normally his style, but there was more at stake than his pride. He was almost at Capsule Corporation, but had decided to walk the remainder of the journey for safety reasons. He gently lay Gohan over his shoulders and continued on.

Arriving at Capsule Corporation Piccolo was surprised to find everyone outside staring at two androids. The pathetic quivering of the other warriors irritated Piccolo, but he realised he had just walked in on a very tense situation so wisely said nothing. Instead he walked by them all and kicked open the front door of CC. Without hesitation he walked swiftly through the corridors with his cape flowing behind him.

Bulma and Chichi stared at one another when they heard the footsteps echoing through the halls. The air suddenly seemed to thicken with tension and Bulma silently cried out to her husband to wake up. Although she'd never admit it, she enjoyed the sense of security she experienced around Vegeta, when he was awake anyway. Chaotzu, who sat quietly in a dark corner recognised the power signal, but didn't say anything. He hadn't really noticed the reactions of the other girls in the room as he was too busy wallowing. A huge shadow appeared menacingly in the doorway and Bulma and Chichi sank further back in their seats. Videl, however, seemed to recognise the figure and called out a greeting, "Piccolo."

"Hm!"

"Where have you been? Have you seen Gohan?"

Piccolo emerged into the full light revealing his company. Chichi seemed to suddenly come out of her state of shock and rushed up to attend to her son and Bulma followed suit only a second later. Piccolo ignored the frantic women and pushed past them to a vacant bed. He paused for a second as if reconsidering his actions, then with the grace and care of a parent lowered Gohan to the mattress. He took a step back to let the others tend to him, but found himself stepping into Chichi.

"Hey, watch where you are going."

The shrill cry pierced Piccolo's ears. Nevertheless his pride would not allow him to show the pain caused so he simply moved to stand in a dark corner, content to watch from a distance. He felt slightly ashamed that he had revealed so much tenderness towards a person and hoped that everyone was too occupied to notice or remember. Taking the opportunity Piccolo glanced over his enemies, Goku and Vegeta. He noticed that Vegeta's face was especially sallow and that Goku didn't look much better. Both had very low power readings. He also noticed Chaotzu sitting quietly in a corner with his head bowed. Had he not been given the opportunity to reflect then Piccolo would have probably overlooked Chaotzu due to his secluded position and his low power. Piccolo wondered how he must feel being left behind by all the other fighting giants.

He wasn't given long to ponder it. Not much later everyone took their attention away from Gohan for long enough to interrogate Piccolo. He gave a brief recount of the events before taking off to the battle which he sensed had just begun outside.

*

Goten and Trunks began to power up, sensing that they would probably have to control the direction of the battle, at least until their fathers arrived. Juuhachigou did the same only seconds later. Krillen, Yamcha and Tien reluctantly gathered their energy preparing for the hard struggle that inevitably lay before them. Even Goten had a touch of fear in his eyes, but Trunks seemed almost eager to rip the androids apart. Goten briefly gave Trunks a sidelong glance, but Trunks caught his eye and silently reprimanded him for not focusing on the androids. The androids stood impassively, watching the events with amusement. A silent cue seemed to go off in their programming once the Z-Warriors reached a certain power and the two took a flying leap in a perfectly synchronised motion. Still unsure of what they were up against the others readied themselves for the action, but with less grace and confidence than the androids. Their lack of organisation cost them as each member was singled out and picked off within seconds. Fortunately no member was seriously hurt, but somewhat perturbed. Trunks, fuelled by the rage emerging from his hurt ego, got straight back into the action, but again was simply tossed aside. Neither android seemed particularly interested in killing anyone, only keeping them out of the way. It was about then that Piccolo let his energy surround himself, drawing many eyes. As his aura swirled about him the androids began to speak, "Where is Goku?" The voice was very crisp. No words or emotions were wasted in the request, making it sound so much more dangerous.

"Goku who?" Piccolo replied.

"Tell us where Goku is?"

Trunks beat Piccolo to the response, "Never." His words were emphasised by a strong burst of power emanating from his every pore. With their wits gathered the group launched a more organised assault with Trunks pushing at incredibly high levels for so early on in the fight.

Thud, thud! Two more identical figures landed and calmly approached the scrimmage before letting their power explode outward. With more ease than seemed likely each claimed a single opponent. One had isolated Goten from the group forcing him into a one on one. The other simply got on Trunks's nerves, coercing him from the safety of his friends.

Goten pushed his foot outward in a sweeping kick aimed at the ankles of the android. The young girl skilfully flipped over the foot, but Goten reacted quickly managing a reasonably aimed roundhouse to the knee. With the android off balance from blow Goten zipped up to his opponent landing a well placed uppercut to the young girls jaw sending her flying backwards for a second then falling to dig a trench with her own torso. The exhilaration of success began to loosen Goten up even further. Keeping a wary eye on the figure that lay in the dust Goten threw his hands to his side preparing for a Kame Hame Ha. Before he had the first syllable out he noticed a quick movement and suddenly the battered girl was gone. Stunned and confused Goten looked about him, seeing the other raging battles around, but unable to locate his foe. On a whim he twisted his head skyward and found a foot falling toward his face. He jumped from the path of the falling android, but the foot clipped his shoulder making it numb for a second. That second was enough to allow the android to place an elbow squarely in Goten's gut. Goten's eyes spread wide, his mouth captured in a half formed cry of pain. The android took advantage of his situation and landed a blow to the head before chambering a foot for a back kick. Goten recognised the sign and quickly moved to block the attack, but the blow to his head had stunned him just enough to slow his reaction. The foot hit Goten's upper torso and he let himself fall backwards, needing a chance to recover. The android was strong and it was too dangerous to let her land many blows, especially in such quick succession. He considered going Super Saiyan right then, but decided to save his trump card for really dire straights. For a split second he took a quick glance at Trunks, hoping that he was doing better.

Meanwhile Trunks was facing his own threat. He also had an android to himself, but had been experiencing less luck than Goten. Already blood trickled from several places and flowed freely from others. Trunks had managed to maintain possession of his sword, but was seriously considering getting rid of it. Although it was an advantage, this android was a lot stronger and faster than Trunks and that meant his weapon could be turned against him. Deciding on a final attempt with his sword Trunks jumped aside from a low front kick and drew it across the androids chest, feeling it jar as it traced its way through the skin. Almost doubting his own senses Trunks took a double take and realised that he had indeed hurt the android. The android touched the wound gently then cocked his head sideways, glaring at Trunks out of the corner of his eyes and smirked. The smirk contained so much of Vegeta in it that Trunks found himself doubting the identification of this creature and relaxed his posture. A cry of pain from Yamucha in the distance brought Trunks back to reality though and he quickly resumed a fighting stance.

Piccolo, Yamucha and Tien had ended up facing another android. Piccolo dominated most of the fight with Tien and Yamucha acting as back up. Taking the gamble of energy attacks Piccolo fired a Makankosappo toward the android, but keeping it relatively weak just in case these androids could absorb energy. Because all four looked alike it was impossible to tell which was which and any differences in abilities and strength. The beam raced towards the android at an incredibly menacing speed, lighting up the area immediately around it. Almost instantaneously the android moved out of the blasts range letting the two coiled beams fly towards the distance. Seconds later an enormous explosion was heard as it impacted some distant mountain. Neither Piccolo nor the android saw it though as they were already exchanging blows once more. Tien saw an opportunity and sped around the back of the android while he was occupied by Piccolo. Taking the second attacker in his stride the android simply sped up his blocks, letting each arm move independently, perfectly tracing the strikes of his opponents. By now Yamucha had his fears in check and also moved to attack the android. Realising this would stack the odds unfairly the android pushed back on his opponents almost toppling them as he took to the sky allowing his feet free motion. Now when all three blasted towards him he was able to utilise each of his limbs to block attacks and only seconds later, blast Tien and Yamucha from the sky.

Krillen and Juuhachigou had paired up and were actually experiencing the most luck out of the four groups. Juuhachigou had a considerable advantage as she knew the enemy well. She had been this same enemy not too long ago. Using incredibly quick and skilled feint techniques Juuhachigou was able to land several blows, although she never had enough time to pour all of her power into any of them. Krillen also benefited from the distraction because the android focussed his energy on Juuhachigou recognising her strategic knowledge. Juuhachigou feinted a roundhouse before ramming her other foot into the androids gut and pulling her fist upward under his ribs. For a second the android was stunned. Juuhachigou then moved to stand adjacent to him and rammed an elbow into his back causing him to bend at an unnatural angle. Then once more she stood to face him, fist cocked, just before she saw a flash of Piccolo's Makankosappo appear in her peripheral vision. The momentary hesitation cost her dearly as the android once more took control throwing an energy ball in her direction. In jumping out of the way she landed in a somewhat vulnerable position, her weight off balance and her arms not ready for blocks. Before she knew it a foot came flying for her ankles, knocking her off her feet. Flipping herself over backwards she gained a reasonable distance from the enemy and took in a few sharp and heavy breaths.

*

Bulma, Chichi and Videl could hear the sounds of a raging battle outside. Each felt guilty for their absence, but also realised that they would be more hindrance than help in the situation. Chichi felt torn between her sons bedside and her husbands. She could hardly believe that they lay there so helplessly while such a monumental struggle was on. What worried her the most was that Goten was out there, attempting to achieve what both Gohan and Goku had failed at. Bulma had to tend to all three warriors, but spent the most of her time with Vegeta. She enjoyed being able to gently stroke his brow and run her fingers along his arms without him yelling at her, but hated seeing him so weak because she knew what strength meant to him. She was almost envious of Chichi and Videl who sat next to their husbands as both Gohan and Goku were in far better states than Vegeta. Silently in her head she told Vegeta that he mustn't leave her now, especially now. If only you knew, she thought.

*

Mike and Trina trudged through the streets. "Hurry up!" Mike urged getting impatient with Trina's speed. They were at the back of the pack which was accelerating rapidly. All were eager to see Son Goku's demise, something that Jaques had promised them if they were to hurry. He did not offer any transportation due to sheer numbers. However, he had given them the location of the battle and all had rushed off to see the final hours. Trina felt a little disgusted that they could take so much enjoyment out of watching a man beaten to death, especially when he had no way of defending himself. Personally the thought of killing a person disgusted her no matter what the circumstances, but wisely she kept these opinions to herself. It was too late to get out now. Even if she managed to peel off from the group they would turn against her whenever she was spotted. In a game of rebellion those who sit on the fence are considered to be on the opposite side. She was not one of the rebels, nor was she one of the general public. She glanced casually at Mike who gave her a gentle smile, trying to give her silent support. She returned the gesture, knowing that he needed as much reassurance as she did right now. Releasing her hand from its warm spot in her sleeve she reached out towards Mike's hand which was swaying at his side. They grasped hands tightly and each pulled a little closer to one another. The warmth and comfort provided by the simple action was immeasurable at such a time.

*

Jaques tapped his hands on the armrest impatiently. "What's going on?" he snapped at Paul who was trying to keep track of all four androids at once while still trying to get Hyakugou onto the battlefield. There were five screens above the computer consoles, each with the respective name printed above them. Jaques stared impatiently at Gohyakugou's monitor which was showing a lot of static. "Why isn't Gohyakugou sending proper signals?" he demanded, almost expecting the answer he received two minutes ago to change.

"Like I said," Paul replied through gritted teeth, "it's probably just atmosphere."

"Then why isn't it affecting the others?"

"I don't know, but it's not important right now. Let me get Hyakugou ready then I'll worry about your television entertainment."

"Need I remind you that this is more than mere entertainment. Goku's demise will be the biggest event in history since the atomic bomb. Our record of that event should be more than a grainy blur."

"You have three other androids there which should provide you with more than enough footage and if you let me work then you'll have an image from Hyakugou too."

"Why wasn't Hyakugou working properly in the first place? I thought you said everything would be fine. I told you we only have one shot at this."

"Yes, yes I did." Paul said a lot more subdued, obviously lost in deep thought.

"Are you going back on your word?" Jaques looked as if he was about to have a coronary any second.

"No, it's just a minor programming glitch. One of the code loops seems to have been bypassed. I'm running an analysis on it now and it will be fixed in no time. Don't worry, even if we had waited we might not have noticed this. We made allowances for this sort of thing."

"I hope so, for your sake."

Restraining a derisive laugh at the cliche Paul remembered the urgency of his work and watched the rows of numbers and commands run down the screen.

*

Gohan started to shift in his bed, his head shaking about erratically. Bulma told Videl, Chichi and Chaotzu that he was waking up. They all crowded around his bed staring down at him, waiting.

When Gohan opened his eyes his first reaction was fear. He drew back instinctively trying to get away from the people that surrounded him. Videl reached out to calm him but he slapped the hand away while still in his semi-conscious state. "Mmmm," he groaned feeling the pain of his palms coming in forceful contact with a hard surface. The pain exploding in his hands heightened his senses allowing him to realise that the people who surrounded him were his friends and family. He groggily opened his eyes and found himself looking into the eyes of his wife. "Videl?"

"Yeah, it's me, Gohan."

Gohan turned his head slightly to see his mother. "Hi Mum."

Without giving Chichi a chance to reply Bulma suddenly whipped out a small pocket torch and shone it into Gohan's eyes. He drew away, still not wanting to greet the day just yet. "Come on Gohan. You've been hurt in a fight. Do you remember?"

"Umm, I think so. I remember Piccolo telling me not to block an attack, then..."

"You're going to be fine, Gohan." Bulma said, doubting her own words before they emerged.

Gohan lay in his bed not wanting to shut his eyes. He knew his body better than anyone else in this room and he knew that he was being lied to. He was so afraid that if he shut his eyes he would never open them again. He hid his fear from Videl reasonably well, but she sensed something was wrong. She tried to get him to talk about what was bothering him, but he just told her that he was still feeling a little bit out of it which wasn't really a lie. He had seen his father before and sensed that he was not doing so well either. His power was low and it seemed that his heart had slowed as had his breathing.

"Bulma, can I talk to you for a second?" he finally ventured.

"Sure what's up Gohan?"

"Hmm, Videl, can you go and get me glass of water please?"

Videl didn't stop to consdier the unusual timing of the request. Instead she knew that Gohan wanted something so sped off to get it at top speed.

"Do you want to help her, mum?" Gohan asked.

Chichi was fully aware of what was really being asked of her so followed Videl out and took Chaotzu, knowing that Gohan probably didn't realise how stupid it sounded asking two people to get water due to his condition.

When they left Bulma came and sat at Gohan's side and waited for him to talk.

"Bulma, I'm not stupid and I can tell that I'm really not doing so well here."

Bulma hung her head in shame, wishing that Gohan didn't know so damn much sometimes. "Yeah. I thought you might figure that out. Sorry, I just didn't want to upset you or Videl."

"No, thank you. It's a good thing. I don't want Videl to worry. It's just that I was wondering if you knew of anyway at all to cure this. Couldn't you create some kind of antedote for it?"

"Well its not really a bacteria or something I can just pump some antibiotics in you to fix. You're a Saiyan, if it was something like that then you would probably be out there with your brother right now. I was thinking about that before, but I really don't think that there's anything I can do. We'll just have to hope that your Saiyan blood is enough to take care of it."

"It's not."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes I do. Firstly, I know my body. When I'm training I've always been told to pay attention to how well your body is holding out. Secondly, whatever it was that hit me was designed to take out a Saiyan. The Saiyan blood isn't the exception, its probably the rule."

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll run a couple of tests and see what shows up. The truth is we don't even really know what this is doing to your body, so it's hard to treat."

"Thanks Bulma."

"Don't mention it."

"Oh Bulma, one other thing."

"What?"

"If you do come up with something, then test it on me OK?"

"Huh?"

"The world needs Dad and Vegeta more than me, so if you come up with something when we are all out of it, then test it on me."

"Gohan, you really don't know what you are saying. Just rest and we'll get you fixed up don't worry."

Just then Chichi, Videl and Chaotzu walked back in. Gohan looked pleadingly at Bulma, hoping she wouldn't say anything. She seemed to understand the silent request and said nothing. She just casually gathered some equipment and announced she was doing some tests.

Gohan didn't think it at all strange that none of them had any water.

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Thanks for reading. Please Review. I'd love to know what you think.

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	6. Cure?

Reason ****

REASON

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Disclaimer: The Dragonball characters and concepts do not belong to me. I am not making any money off this.

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Authors Notes:_ EXAMS ARE EVIL!!!_

I'm not a doctor and I really don't know a lot of biology so I'm probably going to really say a lot of stupid stuff in this chapter. The only time I've ever paid attention in Bio was when the teacher was explaining the immune system to us in terms of the android saga using his Dragonball Z action figures (yes it is a class of 16, 17 and 18 year olds). Just pretend that I'm making slightly intelligent and logical statements – give your imagination a real workout.

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Chapter 6: Cure?

Gohan had drifted off into a silent sleep. Bulma wasn't entirely sure if it was simply fatigue or if he had slipped back into unconsciousness, but her money was on the latter. Her concerns were not voiced though, she was far too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Vegeta, Goku and Gohan. She felt guilty about leaving Vegeta even though he was unconscious. Still she would feel even more guilty if he died through her own laziness. Bulma, however, was not a doctor. She was able to run simple tests to look for simple disorders, but the reality was she was facing an entirely original form of attack that even a research scientist would be pushed to solve in a lifetime. Glancing at her watch she realised that dawn was fast approaching. That also meant that there would be people in the general population waking up and coming to work soon. The last thing she needed right now was to explain to a thousand workers what exactly was going on not far from here and why she had three new patients with a seemingly incurable disease. Deciding to cross that bridge when she came to it she returned to her work hoping for some kind of inspiration.

Videl and Chichi both wondered what had caused Bulmas sudden burst of action, but neither complained. Videl had looked rather bitter over Gohan confiding in Bulma and not her, but tried to hide this for Gohans sake. He had been whispering sweet comforting thoughts to her, bidding her to sleep. She did the same and eventually Gohan fell to her will, but Videl knew that it was through no choice of his own. She was surprised enough that he was willing to lie in bed while his brother was outside fighting. It only made her worry more because after all these years she knew how stubborn Gohan could be when he had to be. There was no way he would lie here now unless he was absolutely unable to fight.

*

Trunks managed to catch the android in the mouth with his fist and tried to sweep his feet from under him. The android jumped over the feet, but didn't more quick enough to block the roundhouse kick that followed. While on his run of luck Trunks quickly charged a ball of energy and tossed it in the android's direction. Although it did not hurt the android much it caused him to take a couple of steps back. Taking the opportunity Trunks let out a kiap and felt the power surging forward. He wasn't given half a second to appreciate his new strength before the android took the offensive again. Trunks was getting very confused by the style of fighting the androids employed. They seemed almost uninterested in combat and only blocked and avoided attacks when necessary. Attack seemed to come as a last resort. However, at times they would suddenly jump on the offensive. It was possible that the purpose of this could be solely to confuse, but Trunks sensed that there was something more to this. It wasn't just a tactic, it meant something. It had to mean something because if Trunks didn't find a weakness soon this battle would be lost. Already he and the other fighters were getting tired and the androids weren't even out of breath. They never would be until they were destroyed.

*

Bulma marched into the room trying to look confident, but only managing to twist her face into a scowl resembling concentration. Several pairs of eyes flicked up towards her, waiting. Bulma contemplated how she would explain her findings to the others. She filled her lungs and tilted her head back slightly trying to get rid of the crick that was developing. "Well," she started, returning her head to its normal position finding three pairs of eager eyes resting on her. "I think I have isolated the problem."

"And can you fix it?" Videl asked, not waiting for the long winded explanation of something she probably wouldn't understand.

"It's not really as simple as that." Bulma ventured. "You see, whatever happened to these guys caused their bodies to overheat very rapidly. With the use of some kind of catalyst I've yet to determine the hypothalamus reacted a lot more quickly than normal and essentially began to shut down meaning the body no longer had any control over temperature among other things. As a result of the heat their enzymes were also denatured and-"

"Denatured?"

"When the body overheats enzymes change shape and as a result are unable to properly function. A lot of other relatively minor things would have occurred too, but anyway, that's not the real problem because normally we could treat that in a similar manner you would a fever. All this must have happened within seconds somehow, probably from a very intense blast. However there was something that was bothering me a lot - Vegeta, Goku and Gohan are not currently displaying any physical symptoms other than unconsciousness, which we can assume is not from a blow to the head. They don't even have a high temperature. That made me think that maybe something could be happening at a sub-cellular level. The only problem is that in order to fully investigate this I'd need an electron microscope which we obviously don't have here."

The room was silent for a second. Bulma had ended without an inflection and the others were under the impression she was about to say more. Chichi was the first to realise that this wasn't the case and asked, "So what are you going to do then?"

"Well, the most I can do is make an educated guess from experiment what is going on and try my best to treat it or wait for it to take its course." Silence ensued once more, but this time it wasn't because everyone assumed Bulma was about to say more.

Building up the courage Videl asked, "Do you think you can cure them?"

"I really don't know."

"Do you think we should try?"

Bulma thought back to her conversation with Gohan. She didn't want to dishonour Gohans wishes, but she didn't even know if he was even in the right state of mind to be making such decisive calls. She had known enough to sense the fear in his voice though. He had spoken as the man who knew the next breath could be the last, it was enough to make anyone desperate. "Well, I think that we need to do something." The sobering words almost choked Bulma. She was trying to detach the reality from her husband, not wanting to believe that she was debating Vegeta's life. She was so used to relying on him to save the day and for once she began to understand the kind of pressure he must have felt having the worlds fate rest on his shoulders. Sure, he never admitted to Earth's safety as being a huge concern for him, but it was her home and although he'd never say it that meant it was his home. There was more honour in him than most gave him credit for. At the same time she couldn't help but think back to her conversation earlier with Trunks, before this whole mess had started. She wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, but it never seemed possible to get beyond the tough exoskeleton erected around him. She thought that things could change, but a small voice at the back of her mind constantly reminded her of who she was dealing with.

Not willing to take the silence as an agreement, Bulma prompted the others for a response. The pained stares lasted for a second before Chichi reluctantly muttered, "Do it then" and Videl nodded in agreement. Bulma inched to her husbands side brushing his forehead for a second, knowing how much he'd hate that if he were conscious. The lack of protest made her more aware of the pressing urgency of her task and she left to continue with her work.

Bulma entered the last of the data into her computer. She'd run every experiment she thought could shed some light on the subject, but nothing seemed to work. She stared at the endless printouts the computer gave her, barely taking in the words that flashed across the screen. As several more windows pop up her vision wandered towards the open door. Suddenly it all fell into place and Bulma felt sure that a light-bulb must have just illuminated above her head. She pulled up the appropriate file and skimmed her eyes over it, a look of victory making its way to her face and taking over as she did so. She clicked print and started to jump around while waiting impatiently for the printer. She pulled the last page out in such haste that the last two lines were smudged, but that didn't matter. Trying to remember that she wasn't sure about anything yet she tried to compose herself, but gave up several steps down the hallway and ran into the room where Vegeta lay. The commotion gained the attention of everyone in the room several minutes before her arrival and they were waiting with their eyes on the door hoping for some good news.

"I think I've got it." Bulma announced without wasting any time on pleasantries, that greeting was pleasant enough.Even Chaotzu looked ecstatic. "There is something affecting their transfer system. There must be something that has thickening their capillary walls which is why they aren't able to regain consciousness. Their bodies are experiencing extreme deprivation of everything it needs. I can't understand how they've managed to survive at all, but maybe the designer underestimated a Saiyans ability to survive. Anyway, that doesn't matter. The point is that I might have finally found something to work from. What I'd like to do is test my theory though." Bulma paused, wondering if anyone knew what it was she was proposing. It was certainly a rather unsettling idea, but common practice. She didn't like to be messing around with things that she wasn't an expert on, but this situation certainly warranted emergency training.

"Ok, do it then."

Bulma hesitated for a second, wondering if she should fully explain what she was about to do. In order to know if the exchange system is malfunctioning she would have to inject a radioactive substance into one of these men and trace its movement. It wasn't a very dangerous procedure, but slightly unnerving. She decided that nobody had actually asked what she intended to do so left it at that. She handed the papers absentmindedly to Videl who looked at them wondering what she was meant to do with them. However, one glance at Bulma told her that it wasn't really a conscious action. Everyone had seen Bulma when she was working on something – the world seemed to draw back for her. She put the papers at Gohans feet and stared once more into his blank face. She had only managed to talk to Gohan for half an hour before he lost consciousness again and in that time she had realised how weak and worried Gohan was. His fear for his father was evident and he even seemed to worry about Vegeta. She slightly resented Bulma having some time to talk to Gohan alone and was desperate to know what they had discussed.

Bulma punched in a security code and opened the door. She washed her eyes over the various chemicals, quickly spotting what she wanted. The company was down to the last batch and some of it had already been used. She continued to gather the rest of the required equipment before returning to the medical room. The whole time she was wrestling with her mind with regards as to whom she should experiment on. Normally she would have picked Vegeta for obvious reasons, but she felt like that would be betraying Gohan's trust. She had promised him, still it didn't feel right especially since she wasn't being entirely up-front with the others. By the time she had returned she had consoled herself with the assurance that she wasn't testing a cure, just running an ordinary test like any other and she would start with Vegeta.

*

Goten was getting a fair beating. His body ached with fatigue already. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold up this pace much longer. Turning Super Saiyan seemed like the only way to stay alive, but already he was so tired and knew that it would drain a lot of his energy. He noted that Trunks hadn't yet transformed and wondered if there was a particular reasoning behind his actions. Trunks always fought a far more thinking fight, where Goten tended to rely on brute strength and following Trunks's lead. Goten had been trained in tactics, but tended to throw such teachings aside on a battlefield. Had he been clearly thinking about the current state he would have know that he would have to transform to even hope to win this fight. A fist slamming heavily into his gut forced him to double over in pain. He forced himself upright just in time to see a huge energy blast heading towards him. Goten didn't hesitate, the power within him suddenly flared outwards and twisted through his body. His hair leapt upwards crackling with golden electricity and his eyes flickered before losing the darkness in them and he thrust his hands forward, shooting his own blast back. All this occurred within a second, but to Goten it all seemed to slow down. His senses heightened and he felt like he had just finally been granted the ability to see. He never got used to the quantum leap in his abilities when he became a Super Saiyan. The power was more exhilarating than an orgasm, the speed made the world appear to be moving so slowly and the senses made a normal being seem blind. The world around him changed in an instant, but there was not time to revel in the ecstasy, he concentrated on his blast, pushing more power into it, trying to gain the ground lost during his transformation. He gritted his teeth and pushed with all his might, focussing and drawing his energy from the depths of his power. The android suddenly changed, everything about it changed. Its eyes suddenly came alive, no longer the impassive pits that didn't seem to see. They became cruel, cold and most of all determined. It was as if a switch had been flicked. Although it was a clumsy mechanism it worked very effectively. The androids power raised a level, giving him just enough energy to push Gotens blast backwards ever so slightly. Goten realised he was losing and dug his feet into the ground and let out a low growl. He had come so far, he couldn't afford to lose. So many times his father and brother had stepped in to save him, now it was his turn to save them. Thinking of his father, the strongest man in the world, lying so helplessly he let out a cry of rage and anger that was accompanied by a huge pulse in his energy wave. His own power pushed forward, almost reaching the android. However, he couldn't sustain the effort and the android seemed to have endless energy. He watched helplessly as the blast moved further towards him. He knew it would hit him so instead of wasting energy he quickly raised his hands to his head, bracing himself for the inevitable blow. Fortunately the android was some distance away so he managed to gather enough energy to prevent himself from being killed, but the blast hit him very hard. Although he tried not to, he cried out, not in pain, but frustration. He was just not strong enough.

*

Bulma removed the needle and pressed down on the spot where a tiny amount of blood was collecting. She looked at Vegeta's face, still unable to comprehend why she felt so nervous about the whole procedure. She'd been trying to shake off the frustrating sense of an ominous premonition without success.

Then it all stopped, so suddenly and so sharply she didn't even have time to react. The heart monitor faded to a straight line and a screeching beep invaded the ears of everyone present. To her credit Bulma was not stunned into a stupor, but she was a little unsure of how to react. Her mind raced over what was happening and how she could possibly hope to reverse it. For a second she began to cast several inwards insults, accusing herself of carelessness. Being the smart person that she was though she quickly stopped herself from wasting any more time. By now Chichi, Videl and Chaotzu were staring in horror, trying to stay out of Bulma's way. "Defribulator," Bulma managed to gasp in her panic. This request was met by blank stares. "Get the defribulator, its in the store-room" Bulma finally yelled. Now that Bulma was speaking their language the request was quickly met. Meanwhile Bulma was filling a syringe with adrenaline and quietly pleading with Vegeta.

With the charged paddles in her hands Bulma sent a quick prayer upwards, hoping she would know enough to save her husband. Feeling the paddles hit Vegeta's exposed chest caused a small shudder. Never in her life did she think she would be standing here, the only hope for the proud Prince. At this point Bulma was ready to slap herself for not taking Vegeta to a proper hospital. Deep down she knew that once a patient had suffered cardiac arrest there was very little chance of them recovering. It happened a lot in movies, but the odds were well stacked against her, especially with her lack of experience. Vegeta's body was thrown upwards like a rag doll under the jolt. It seemed so inhuman. Watching the heart monitor barely waver from its perfectly straight line Bulma let the paddles charge once more.

*

Trunks stopped in the middle of the battlefield. As a result he was hit with a barrage of blows to his face and torso, but the pain never registered. All he could feel was his fathers energy disappear. The others were too involved in their own survival to notice Trunks's unusual behaviour, but they did notice him when he suddenly left the android alone, racing towards Capsule Corporations at a speed that would have made his father proud. Trunks knew that he was making a mistake and knew that it could be a costly one, but there was no way he could let his father die. Running through the halls at breakneck pace Trunks only just missed running into the walls themselves, but his vision was so clearly set on his determination he probably wouldn't have even noticed.

"Dad!" Trunks called out in despair when he saw his father lying there. He knew exactly what his mother was trying to do, but also knew the odds were stacked against her. Because of this he pushed her hands out of the way and raised his own above Vegeta. He shut his eyes and focussed. He had never done this before, but knew that it was possible. His father needed energy and thats what Trunks intended to give him. Perhaps desperation had gained control of his wits or perhaps he just didn't want his father to die. Whatever the reason, it was costing the others a lot outside.

Goten was stunned by Trunks's sudden departure and even more stunned by having a second android turn on him. He could barely hold his own against one android before and two made the task virtually impossible. With every blast or fist or foot he dodged there was another one waiting for him. Only a minute after he'd acquired his new enemy he was beginning to look fairly rough around the edges. The others realised that he would be unable to handle the androids alone, even as a Super Saiyan so Piccolo left Yamucha and Tien to help him. Although he disliked Goten for his frustrating similarity to Goku, Piccolo knew that he owed it to Gohan to try and keep his brother alive. Goten was grateful for the assistance, but now that their forces were spread more thinly the resistance had lost a lot of power. Yamucha and Tien were so occupied with staying alive that they didn't really have a decent chance to attack the androids. Piccolo was becoming very angry with Trunks's disappearance – they couldn't afford to lose such a strong fighter at this point. Piccolo had always tried to keep all emotions other than anger off the battlefield and had trained Gohan to do the same, but it seemed not everyone adopted the same attitude. He could understand that Trunks wanted to save his father, but that's what Dragonballs were for. They didn't have time for his pesky guilt trips. 

*

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Thanks for reading. Please review.

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	7. Blood Ties

REASON ****

REASON

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Disclaimer: sarcasmSince I wrote the last chapter I have bought the Dragonball Z characters and concepts. Akira Toriyama was very happy to hand the rights over to a crazy New Zealand girl./saracsm Actually I don't own any of the Dragonball Z characters or concepts, they still belong to Akira Toriyama and I still don't make money off this.

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Authors Notes: Finally, another chapter. I've had so many stories on my mind lately so its hard to focus on just one. Theres always an excuse though, isn't there? Last time I was making a mockery of Biology and this time its Chemistry. I'm not a scientist, so I'll say dumb stuff. Deal with it.

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Chapter 7: Blood Ties

Bulma knew that her son was trying to help, but couldn't see how stopping the resuscitation would do Vegeta any good. Trunks had been standing there for thirty seconds doing nothing as far as she could tell. Although she trusted her son she wondered if he was suffering from shock. She reached out to touch his shoulder and maybe gain his attention and just then a flicker of light caught the corner of her vision. She looked down and saw that energy seemed to be visibly running from Trunks' hands and into Vegeta. It wasn't long before she could feel a backwash of heat energy emanating from the area. Bulma finally understood what Trunks was doing, she just hoped that he was able to pull it off.

A few moments passed. Vegeta's heart monitor slowly crept back into action and the computer was starting to give Bulma some good readings. Trunks, however, was starting to look slightly pale and his breathing was becoming heavy. Trunks hadn't said a word since he entered the room and Bulma was starting to worry. She wanted to know if everything was going according to plan. She was used to being in the dark with Vegeta, but normally Trunks communicated with her quite well. She didn't really expect him to interrupt the process of saving his fathers life for a nice chat though and contented herself with watching life return to her husband.

Without warning Trunks took a shaky step back. His eyes seemed unfocussed and dilated immediately after opening them, but before anyone noticed they returned to normal. Most of the attention was concentrated on Vegeta who hadn't stirred. A loud thud quickly restored this attention to Trunks who lay floundering on the floor. Videl knelt down to cradle his head as Bulma rushed around the bed. Trunks' cheeks flushed and he tried to struggle to his feet trying to hide his embarrassment with an uncomfortable smile. "Sorry. I'm not used to losing so much energy so quickly." Videl helped Trunks to his feet and supported him to a chair.

After only seconds of sitting Trunks raised himself to his feet. His eyes quickly darted to his father, but he averted making eye contact with his mother. Then he calmly walked out the door.

*

A silent awe fell over the crowd. The sky had just been illuminated by some nondescript light source and was followed by a cry of pain. The group was lost for words. Fortunately none were required because everyone knew what this meant – they had arrived at the battlefield. With an air of caution the revolutionaries began to slow their pace, now approaching in complete silence. It was no secret that many were afraid and several whimpers were restrained from rolling off their lips, fear the only thing keeping them quiet.

Trina could see that Mike was trying to be brave, but he was never a good actor. A gut feeling she had developed for Mike's actions told her that he was probably more worried than she was. That could be blamed on his lust for life though – something ever present in his attitude. A small smile ran over Trina's lips, remembering the first time she had met Mike and instantly fallen in love with his intensity. She knew the reason he was such a coward at times was because he loved life and desperately clung to his right to live it. Her brief contentment was soon squashed by the knowledge that she no longer held this fiery desire. She had been pushed too far in her life and now it didn't seem to have any impact on her anymore. She was detached from life and her body was left moving the motions expected of her. It was almost laughable that she could depart from life so easily without anyone even noticing.

A muffled gasp ran through the crowd as the fighters came into view, then disappeared again. With their incredible speed they flashed in and out of view, seeming demons of war creating havoc even when invisible to the untrained eye. Tucking themselves away behind a thick patch of trees and scrub the group watched in awe. Several nervous voices could occasionally be heard over the sounds of battle, most asking neighbours such questions as, "Which one is Goku?" and "Where did that one go?" and "It's all just a blur."

Trying to block the horrendous noise from her ears Trina looked over at Mike, seeking some comfort, but the sight she was met with was more disturbing than the battle itself. Mike, her quiet and under-spoken Mike had been enraptured by the bloodshed. The compassionate flame that had burnt so strongly in his eyes and been extinguished leaving a blank stare where Mike used to reside. "No," she mouthed, trying to turn away. It couldn't be true, Mike was such a nice quiet person and would never revel in the death of another. Trina knew that he believed that the entire revolution was wrong, he had told her himself. Such a sweet face would never lie. She shook her head and turned away disgusted by her own stupidity. Her mothers warnings from many years ago now ringing true in her mind, 'They don't wear a sign around their neck, Katrina, and its not printed on their T-shirts. You have to make sure you really know a man before you throw away anything for him.' She shook her head, ignoring the few strands of hair that flicked into her eyes. She blinked hard, managing to hold back the tears of despair.

As if he had sensed her restlessness Mike looked over at Trina and noticed her unusual actions. He laid a hand on her shoulder, moving it down towards her waist and resting it on her hip while his other hand rubbed her arm comfortingly. Trina looked up at him, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "You OK babe?" Mike asked. As if on cue, the fire in his eyes lit once more. The recognition confused Trina even more. No longer did she know if this was Mike. It seemed that there must be two beings in there, duelling for the consciousness of one body. The want to believe conquered quickly though, crushing her previous doubts. Her mind began to convince itself that she'd not really seen that look in his eye. Mike had called her 'babe', just like he always had before this whole mess. It had seemed like a lifetime ago, but now it all came rushing back into perspective. The happy times they had spent together were no longer clouded by the worried mists in Trina's mind, there was only crystal clear memories showing her just what Mike had to offer her. Still, there was something telling her that even if she did make a wrong move it wouldn't matter. The world had gone wrong so many times and still come right exactly the same number of times and because of this Trina knew that consequences were not final, they never had been anyway.

*

Bulma stared at Vegeta's still silent face. He had been showing signs of coming around since Trunks had left, but hadn't quite made it. In his sleep he had been fighting an unknown enemy, probably still plagued by the realisation that would have hit the nanosecond before he fell into unconsciousness – he had been defeated with a single blow. "Come on, Vegeta." Bulma whispered running a hand over his forehead and then taking his hand in hers.

While sitting, Bulmas mind was still running over possible cures. Although Vegeta was getting better now, that was only due to Trunks' huge input of energy and without a cure he would continue to deteriorate. She had been sure that she had come up with the cure, it had all fitted so perfectly. Something must have gone wrong in her calculations then, but that couldn't be true as they had all been performed on her computer, made at Capsule Corporation, no less. Then there must have been something else. Think, Bulma commanded herself. She traced the process she had gone through in her head, trying to pinpoint where she had gone wrong. After several attempts she gave up, silently reprimanding herself for her inability to help her husband. So many times he'd come through for her, saving the world while he was at it and she couldn't even save his life; the one time he really needed her.

Something tickled the back of her thoughts though, she kept seeing herself taking the phial off the shelf. With a start she stood up, knocking her chair over in the process. She held the bottle up to the light peering through the liquid. It was so subtle that she thought she was imagining it, but seconds later she was convinced that there was a touch of yellow to the clear fluid. Chichi, Videl and Chaotzu watched in wonder as Bulma took up two test tubes and added potassium thiocyanate to one and potassium ferocyanide to the other. Then, with her hands shaking from nervousness and excitement she drew some of the liquid from the phial. Carefully she added some to each of the test tubes, one turning a bloody red and the other turning prussian blue. Under her breath Bulma whispered, "Ferric Ion. Theres presence of the ferric ion in this," she said, indicating the medicine sitting on the bench. Then without warning she suddenly grabbed the blood red test tube and spun around quickly. Everyone but the sleeping warriors cringed, half expecting the test tube to go flying. Bulma gave them odd looks before continuing on while waving the test tube in front of their eyes. "Look, its formed a complex ion; iron thiocyanate. We are just luck that it didn't bond with anything in the cure or it wouldn't show up in the test."

Bulma was greeted with several blank stares. Plucking up the courage Chaotzu asked, "Bulma, what does that mean."

"I really don' t know how the contaminant got in there, it would have to be an extreme act of carelessness to make such a mistake. But however it got in there doesn't matter. The point is that this is not good stuff to have in your blood stream and either through a Saiyans different chemical makeup or through whatever it was that caused this its effects were sped up." Bulma slumped into her chair. The explanation had taken her last bit of energy. Rubbing a hand over her face she continued unexpectedly, "The thing is, that is the last bottle we have of the cure and its the only thing I can think of to fix the problem."

"Can't you get some more from elsewhere?" Videl asked, trying to be helpful.

Bulma shook her head. "Do you know where that cure came from? It was designed off an extract from Saiyan blood. I once managed to convince Vegeta to give us some blood for testing."

"How did you manage that?" Chichi asked, curious as to how Bulma was able to control such an independent Saiyan as Vegeta.

"Umm, well...I told him that needles were the one thing Goku couldn't handle. It certainly hit the right nerve because in a second he had his sleeve rolled up and his arm offered to me." Bulma chuckled at the memory. "Anyway, we found this in his bloodstream and synthesised some more, thinking it could be very useful in the future. It seemed to help the body's gas transfer system – sort of like the oil of a Saiyan body. However if this thing was designed to target Saiyans then whoever made it would have accounted for this and somehow countered its effects. I figured a little boost in the levels would counteract the effects of whatever happened. Basically, its a Capsule Corp. original. It took weeks to get the stuff made and was a fairly costly project. This is all that was left after we realised the stuff was too potent to help out humans. I just can't understand why there was Ferric ion in it though. The stuff hasn't been in use for over a year."

There was still one unanswered question that the others were hoping Bulma would answer. She remained quiet though and Videl was forced to ask, "So what do we do now?"

"Normally I'd try and get the contaminant out, only that won't work because there is nothing I can think of that could work without bonding to the medicine itself, rendering it useless. The only hope would be..." Bulma faded off and then suddenly continued, "That substance is the answer, I'm sure of it. However, the only way we could get some of it would be to extract it from Saiyan blood and input all the data into the computer again so that we can synthesise some more." Bulma looked up at the others, unsure of how they would react.

"So you need Goten or Trunks for this then?" Videl asked.

Bulma nodded.

"OK then, Chaotzu, you are going to go out there and get Goten in here," Videl said looking at Chaotzu.

*

Trunks flew back into the battle just in time to intercept a blow aimed at Goten. Instantly the battle divided, each android with a single opponent. This made it a lot easier for Goten to watch his back, but he was tired after his last struggle. He noted that Trunks' power was far lower now too and couldn't stop his mind wandering to possible answers. Trunks seemed to notice the lack of concentration and ordered Goten to stay focussed, just as a fist came flying into Trunks' jaw, slurring the last word. This was followed by a swift knee into Trunks' chest causing him to double over. With his back exposed the android moved to slam his elbow into the spine, but Goten caught the elbow on its journey. The diversion did not last long though as the second android came up behind Goten and wrapped his iron arms around him, forcing the air from his lungs and crushing his ribs into his internal organs.

The cry of pain was heard across the countryside and snapped Trunks to attention. He came racing towards the android who was causing his friend so much pain, but his path was blocked by the first android. With a huge war cry his hair swirled upwards, laced with gold and he simply head butted the android from his path. He enveloped a ball of concentrated energy in his palm and was about to slam the fist into the androids back when there was a faint whoosh in the air and Trunks found himself face to face with his silenced friend, his fist embedded in Gotens chest. Goten stared into Trunks' eyes, the pain evident, but Trunks' despair more so. For a second Trunks did nothing, simply holding his fist in position before his muscles gave way and his fist was pushed out from Goten's gut. Trunks looked down, realising that although he had not broken the skin there was enough internal damage in there to take a Saiyan down.

An evil laugh echoed behind Trunks, but he was oblivious to the sound, all he could feel was the hatred for the creature that had turned his own power against his best friend. The android opened his arms releasing Goten who began to slowly float to the ground, his arms wrapped around his waist, his eyes were mere slits due to the agony pulsing through him. He knew he had to keep fighting, all he needed was a second to recover. Something inside of him said that Trunks didn't have a second, especially when he was so weak. He knew he didn't have time to be injured so looked up at the two androids, both so similar, and Trunks. He raised his energy, trying his best to power up, but it was taking enough to stay in Super Saiyan form and all he achieved was a weak increase. Determined to save his friend he ascended anyway. As he did so he realised that while Trunks was engaged in battle with one of the androids the other was preparing to send a huge blast at him. In the time Goten managed to open his mouth to warn Trunks, Piccolo was there and blocked the blast. Goten's mind questioned where he had come from and realised that he had left Tien and Yamucha to hold their own again. He looked over at where that fight was taking place and realised that it wouldn't last long. The power signatures coming from that area were slowly fading and he assumed that the androids wouldn't be getting any weaker, androids don't get tired. With a new born fire in his spirit he powered up, preparing to engage into battle once more.

"Goten," Chaotzu called out.

"Eh?" Goten spun around, surprised by the sudden interruption in his endeavour.

"Goten, its me," Chaotzu continued, scared by the angry look in the young warriors eye. Although he realised Goten would never willingly hurt him, there was always the chance that he could be mistaken in a battle. "Bulma really needs you inside."

Goten quickly overtook Chaotzu on his trip back to Capsule Corporations. As soon as he realised this he dutifully waited, but gave up and ended up taking Chaotzu in hand and dragging him through the corridors trying to waste no time. It wasn't long before he realised he was getting lost and had to ask for Chaotzu's help, which was gladly given. However this did slow down his pace a lot.

Finally arriving in the small base the others had established Goten looked over his father and brother, unable to hide his concern. He was only granted a few seconds of this before Chichi ran up to him and started inspecting him thoroughly. She frowned at the trickles of blood that ran across his body like an intricate plan and even more so at the blood that was running freely from a gash on his forehead and the stream of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Bulma took only a second to insert the needle into Goten's arm and pushed him onto the last unoccupied bed. Fortunately he had not inherited his fathers innate fear of needles and he sat quietly, although clearly eager to leave.

Moments later, Bulma gently pulled the needle out and reached for a plaster to tape across the prick wound. She paused and looked back over Goten who was already leaving, understanding that after this Goten would be needing a lot more than a plaster. She opened her mouth, but before she could say a word Goten was gone.

*

Jacques and Paul were hurriedly packing up their equipment. The plan was now underway and there was nothing they could do here anymore. Paul grabbed a disk from one of the computers before him and put it in his shirt pocket. Jacques looked over the workstation, checking to see if there was anything forgotten. Seeing that there wasn't he dashed out the door, not forgetting to grab his long overcoat on the way out. Paul took one final look over the place that he had spent so many months working on and in before shutting the door behind him. With his laptop under his arm he jumped into the back of the waiting van where Jacques was waiting impatiently. Jacques tapped his foot and his face was wrought with irritation. Recognising the tell-tale signs Paul quickly flicked his laptop open and plugged it into the control panels before him. He typed in several commands, before pausing and offering the computer to his boss who unceremoniously pressed the 'Enter' key.

BOOOOM!!! The entire building exploded, taking all the evidence with it. As Paul was pulling the van doors shut trying to ignore the inferno and tumbling debris, Jacques began telling the driver, "Go just north of Capsule Corporations."

"Well, don't just sit there in a stupor. Whats going on?" Jacques asked Paul who was staring in a daze.

Paul ran his eyes to the other end of the van where Hyakugou's monitor was. The readings caught him by surprise. "Hyakugou should be there any minute now, Sir." he replied with a touch of disbelief in his voice. They had come so far...

*

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Thanks for reading. Please review.

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	8. Revised Chance

REASON ****

REASON

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the Dragonball Z characters or concepts. They belong to Akira Toriyama. I am not making any money off posting this.

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Chapter 8: Revised Chance

"I've got it!" Bulma yelled as she skidded in the doorway. She started to draw some of the liquid into a syringe holding it up to the light as she did so, scrutinising for any trace of yellow. She laid the syringe down on the table next to her and started to draw another when Videl lay a gentle hand on Bulma's wrist. Bulma looked up, curious as to Videls motivations.

Her words surprised Bulma though, something she never thought Videl was strong enough to utter. "Can you start with Gohan?"

Bulma wondered if Videl had overheard the conversation that had taken place earlier with Gohan. Deciding to test her theory she eyed Videls face watching for any waver in her conviction, "Why?"

Videl thought for a second, wondering how she could explain her gut feeling to Bulma. "Because that is how he would want it. He's not as far into the symptoms as Goku and Vegeta so he's more likely to survive if you are wrong. He is your best bet and you know it."

Bulma wondered if she should be relieved. Not waiting for her mind to give her an answer she finished drawing up the other syringes of liquid and grabbed three needles. She took Gohans arm and raised it slightly and bit down on the needle cover, pulling it off with her teeth. She pressed down, waiting for the liquid to merge with Gohans blood stream and watched for any signs of trouble.

Bulma kept her eyes on the computer screen beside Gohan, "I think he's going to be OK. If anything was going to wrong then I think it would have happened by now." Bulma traced a line moving up the screen with her finger, "Look, already its taking effect."

Videl didn't waste any time in taking up Gohans hand and sitting at his side once more, trying to coerce him into consciousness. Bulma kept her eye on Gohan's statistics for a second more before returning her attention to the others. "I think he'll be fine. In fact, I don't imagine it will be long before he comes around." This news was too much for Chichi who ran up to her son with a sound that was half laugh and half sob. She proceeded to push Bulma out of the way and started to weep on Gohan's shoulder.

Bulma returned to the seat that sat at Vegeta's side. 'There is so much to be said,' Bulma thought. 'But you'll never know, or maybe just never care.'

Gohan shifted in his bed, a small groan escaping. Bulma's head darted upward and she rose quickly from her seat to stand at Gohans side. Chichi reluctantly moved aside to give Bulma better access to her son. Gohan groaned once more and began to grind his head into the pillow.

"Come on, Gohan. Open your eyes. Its me Videl."

"Mmm, Videl?" Gohan muttered, his voice barely audible and cracking. He opened one eye a small way, not yet willing to greet the conscious world.

That was enough for Videl and Chichi though. Bulma was thrust aside and the two women happily greeted him. Gohan's eyes were forced open in shock. He smiled at his mother and wife before passing a silent eye towards Bulma, thanking her in his own way. She gave him a weak smile causing him to wonder exactly what had gone on while he was unconscious.

"How's Dad?" Gohan asked weakly.

Bulma was snapped rudely back into reality, reminded of her task. Bulma nodded towards Goku's bed and said, "He's OK. We have not yet given him the anecdote yet."

Gohan said nothing. He knew what Bulma meant and why she had not yet given his father the cure, he was the lab rat, just as he had requested.

Bulma continued, "So how do you feel?"

"Great," Gohan replied with a certain air of sarcasm. "I'm fine though, really. I'm just feeling a little weak. But first, where is Goten? Is he alright too?" It was as if Gohan had only just remembered his brother and in fact he almost had. His brain was still clouded and his body felt so tired. Nothing was working as fast as it should.

Chichi was the first to say anything. "Goten is out there," she said waving a hand outwards. "He's fighting the androids."

With that Gohan began to pull the covers off himself and try to clamber out of the bed. Videl moved to stop him, but he shot her daggers. "I'm going," he stated. "Goten and Trunks can't take care of this alone. They are going to need some experienced fighters out there."

"Gohan, you are in no condition to fight. Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Krillen and Juuhachigou are all out there. They can handle it. Live first, then fight. If you go out there now you will be killed and probably get others killed trying to save you." Bulma knew exactly what buttons to press with Gohan. It came with watching him grow up.

Gohan looked at Bulma indecisively. Her words made sense but he couldn't sit in a bed while his brother was out there dying. "No, I can't stay here, I have to go." Gohan replied, a little more sedated as if he no longer believed the words himself.

"You know that there is no way you can fight when you are like this. I know its hard, but you'll only get in the way."

Gohan lifted his head slightly and Videl could see the torture in his eyes. "He's my brother..." Videl continued to look Gohan in the eye, silently pleading him to rest. Gohan gave a resigned sigh, "Alright, just until I get my strength back though." Videl smiled and attempted to push Gohan back down onto the bed, but instead he sat up, cross-legged with his hands on his calves and went into a meditative state to gather his energy.

Taking this as a signal to leave Gohan for a while Bulma returned to her husbands side, needle in hand. In one swift movement she had the needle embedded in Vegeta's arm. Taking only a second to press on the prick wound she smiled a small smile to herself, knowing that it would be over soon. Although she knew that there was still a mighty struggle that lay ahead, she had done her part and her work would be done. Bulma then repeated this procedure on Goku and flopped into a chair, resting her weary eyes for just a second.

*

This could not continue, there had to be something that she could do. Trina had spent her time running arguments through and through her head until it ached. She knew that she couldn't live with this though. She could not survive knowing that she had been an accessory to murder. That is what it was, a cold-blooded murder, no matter what the reasons were – they weren't real reasons, they were pathetic attempts to justify killing another being. Above all people, she had to live with herself and the only way to do that was to stop this massacre. She knew she had to do something, for herself and maybe for Mike too. He was trapped, sucked in by the elegant myths despite the fact that they were incongruent with humanity. The only question that remained was how, how could she possibly hope to overcome such a powerful might..

At school Trina had not been a model student, but she was certainly smart. Knowing that against these power giants science was really her only chance she thought back to what Mike had told her about the androids. It was true that he had seen too much, but she could use that to her advantage...somehow. Then she remember something Mike had muttered just before her silencing him with a engrossing kiss. At the time she had been so afraid of someone hearing and would have done anything to shut him up, but now she wished he had let him talk. She may not know as much as she'd like to, but it would have to be enough. After all, her life was all about creating something from nothing.

Quietly a plan began to form.

*

"Androids?!" Vegeta shrieked, his voice suddenly finding new strength. "Whu...what?"

"Vegeta...don't you remember?" Bulma asked softly.

Vegeta continued to stare blankly, waiting for an explanation. When none came he began to grow irritated, as well as he could when drained of energy. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on? I thought that..." A look of recognition washed over Vegeta's face and he sat quietly for a second before suddenly forcing his face into a scowl of determination. "I remember," he declared, his voice low and dangerous. "Something attacked Kakkarot. An android wasn't it?"

"Yes" came the calm voice from across the room. Everyone turned around to see Gohan standing behind the crowd, decked out in his training gear once more.

"Gohan?" Videl asked, seeing no need to complete the question.

"I'm fine, really. I've got my strength back, now I just need to get out there and help Goten, Piccolo and all the others." Gohan's voice had returned to its normal pitch and he looked as though he had recovered. Bulma, having plenty of experience with such acts, walked over to him and started to give him a thorough inspection. Gohan took her shoulders in hand and gently pushed her aside, "I'm fine, really." With that he walked out the door and turned down the hallway.

"Gohan," Bulma called out.

Gohan peered back around the door. "Yeah, other way, right," and began to walk through the corridor in the other direction.

Chichi looked as if she were about to say something but the stream of consciousness was interrupted by a low groan. "Goku!" Chichi cried, returning her attention fully to her husband. Goku shifted slightly in his bed, writhing and pushing the sheets off him. With a start he sat up in the bed to be greeted by several faces smiling back at him and one scowl.

"Hi guys."

Chichi had a huge grin spreading across her face and she was at Goku's bed within seconds with her arms wrapped around him. Goku put his arms up to comfort Chichi and this brought new strength to Chichis racking sobs that were shaking the bed.

"Its alright, Chichi. I'm OK now."

Chichi lifted her head to look at him, wiping the tears from her eyes with a trembling hand. "Oh, I was so worried about you...and Gohan."

The statement caused Goku to crinkle his head in concentration. He tipped his head and looked at the others, "Where is Gohan? Is he alright?"

Although the faces surrounding him were grim, they were not downright depressed, reassuring Goku a little. "He's fine..." Chichi stopped and looked down, wondering how much Goku needed to know right now. Looking up to face her husband again she found him swaying out the door. "Goku."

He cringed visibly. Much to her surprise though when Goku turned around he did not have an embarrassed look on his face. Rather it was set in hard lines, his mind clearly so focussed on what lay before him he had barely noticed the fact that his body was well beyond being recovered.

"Goku, come back. You need to rest a little longer at least."

Goku stood there for a second, the words made sense and he was keenly aware of the trauma his body had been through. "I've fought with worse," he replied.

Seconds later a heavy thud could be heard outside. Everyone looked knowingly around the room. To their surprise however it was Vegeta who left, returning with the dead weight. Vegeta unceremoniously tossed Goku back onto his bed, wishing that his rival wasn't always so stubborn. In the time spent discussing the weather Vegeta had been concentrating on getting back into a state fit to fight...and he was almost there. After all, he was the Prince of Saiyans, he wasn't about to miss a fight.

*

Goten could feel his insides squirming beneath the pressure. His cracked and broken ribs pressed into his lungs which cried out for air. He could feel his energy draining quickly and he knew that his resources would be depleted long before an ending was within reach.

Trunks looked knowingly over at Goten, fully understanding what he had done to his friend. Even amidst the flaring powers Trunks had a firm lock on his friends signature.

Then it came, with such a force and speed that everyone paused, even the androids. The androids were stunned for less than a millisecond though after a flash of recognition that would take the Z-Warriors at least several seconds to understand. The familiar presence of Goku embraced them, letting hope glimmer for a second. However this was broken by Gotens desperate cries. "Its not Dad, its another one of them!"

"Huh?" Trunks barely had time to get the incredulous words out before a looming figure flashed into his vision. His eyes traced upward, his eyes growing progressively wider as he realised what he was about to be put up against. The close proximity was close enough to force a normal man to his knees, but the thought of his father standing fearlessly before far greater threats kept Trunks' reaction at bay. He never got to make eye contact though before the mans enormous hand was embedded in Trunks' stomach, followed by a sharp kick to the thigh causing Trunks' stance to waver. Without hesitation a blast of energy went flying towards Trunks' from point blank range. Even though he wasn't fully recovered Trunks moved enough so that the blast only grazed the side of his arm. However, the attack was not complete and with a final blow to the jaw and an elbow in the back Trunks dropped to the ground, breathing in the musty smell of the dirt mingling with his own blood. He coughed lightly, blood flowing with his breath before pushing himself back up to his knees. Determined to get a look at his attacker he raised his head, ignoring the pain that flashed through his body with the movement.

Whatever image had been built up in Trunks' mind, it was incomparable to the sight that befell his eyes. Without even taking in the face Trunks noticed the cold emptiness buried in the androids eyes. The two locked eyes, caught in a childlike staring contest.

"Very good, you've successfully taken down a child about half your size." Trunks couldn't help but smile at the familiar voice. In his preoccupation he hadn't even noticed his fathers approach. "Now, do you care to take on someone your own size?"

The android didn't even seem to hear Vegetas taunts. Instead his eyes remained locked on Trunks', probably fully aware of the things he was doing to the young boys mind. He was aware of his victory and smirked. Then he raised his hand, breaking the eye contact between the two and Trunks felt the energy gather and swirl in his palm. He closed his fist and pulled his hand back, ready to strike, but just as he did so Vegetas own blast intercepted the motion, effectively saving Trunks' life.

Letting out a sigh of relief, fatigue and fear Trunks' let himself fall back onto his hands before pushing himself up into a fighting stance.

Staggering towards his friend he left his father to handle the new threat. That guy was simply too strong and fast for him to be any use. In the end, he would simply end up in the way and in turn frustrating his father.

*

"Umm, Jacq-, err...Sir, Hyakugou."

"What about it?"

"He's arrived."

"He has? Finally, it shouldn't have taken this long." His eyes ran along the five screens until he reached the one with a hasty 100 scribbled underneath in a black marker. The screen was blank. "Paul..."

"Yes sir?"

"I can't see it."

"Well, I was just waiting to turn on the visuals before we are certain the others are aware of his arrival. It could give away his position."

Jacques waited patiently, fidgeting for a further ten seconds before the stress overcame him. "Just get us a damn picture!" he yelled.

*

Gohan didn't need energy signatures to tell him that he had to hurry. The familiar sounds of fighting rang through the empty and dark hallways causing his human half to shudder. He never got used to the unnecessary bloodshed.

As fast as his body would allow Gohan raced towards the flaring and fading power beacons, namely his brothers.

Gohan didn't have time to think and had he not been half-saiyan he wouldn't have had time to react. Goten stood defeated, wounds tracing across his body and his clothes torn and hanging oddly off his thick frame. All that Gohan saw was a massive energy wave accelerating towards his brother.

"Goten, get down!" Gohan yelled, despite the fact that the blast was already searing into his newly healed flesh.

Grudgingly he sank to his knees.

"Gohan!" Goten dragged his tired body to attention. Gohan had told him to get down and he had done so without thinking. As his eyes granted him small snippets of vision he realised that Gohan was on his knees, breathing heavily.

To Gotens delight, Gohan turned around and smiled at him.

As the dust continued to clear Goten realised that Gohan had not been letting on everything. Already a huge red patch had begun to form down the left side of Gohan's shirt.

Gohan seemed to notice the worried stare. "Don't worry, its just a scratch." Gohan told Goten, trying to sound reassuring, but only succeeding in portraying the pain he was really in.

Goten was fully aware that it wasn't 'just a scratch' but he was willing to let it slip because right now he had bigger problems to overcome. Gohan was strong enough to survive a lot worse and so was he. Concentrating on his energy Goten pushed the pain away and felt strangely rejuvinated. With a burst of power both brothers flew towards the waiting android.

Goten nodded at his brother, knowing exactly what was needed – time. However, Goten was injured...badly. It made sense that Gohan didn't want him involved in any serious fighting until he was able to back him up. Gohan had to swallow his honourable intents though and assure himself that he and his father had trained Goten to stand up to a lot worse. As much as he hated to, Gohan would have to leave Goten temporarily and once again render himself useless in protecting his brother. He simply had to.

And then the heavens erupted and Gohan felt the power surge through him. The real fight was about to get started and the odds were beginning to look better.

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Thanks for reading. Please review – I'd love to know what you think.

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